COULD I SURVIVE ON A DESERT ISLAND?

It appears that one of life's questions will go unanswered for me:  Could I have survived alone on a desert island?

At least fictionally, Robinson Crusoe did what he had to do.   

In my mind, Chingachgook of Last of the Mohicans and David Janssen, the real Fugitive, demonstrated the survival skills to do the same.

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I knew boys, who, as teenagers, could go into the woods for two weeks, taking only a tent, small ax and fishing pole and survive.

They would set up the tent near a mountain stream, cut some fire wood, then fish for their dinner; usually a rainbow trout or bass.

In the summer, there were enough berries to exist; huckleberries, gooseberries, thimble berries and wild blackberries.  

There were mushrooms in abundance in the damp woods if you could distinguish between edible and poisonous.

But, it was not the woods, but living on a desert island that I often thought about, dreamed about.

Fortunately, desert islands are not arid desert, just islands that have been deserted or never populated.

One could hope for the obligatory palm tree or vegetation springing up from that seed that fell in bird caca.  Whatever it is, you must learn to eat it.  

Like the Karankawa of South Padre Island knew well, fresh water from the last rain is trapped somewhere and cactus is a succulent containing water.  So, you have water and fresh greens.

Protein?

Any small fish daring to come close to shore can be stabbed by a supple tree branch or the trunk of a large fern, perhaps on the fiftieth try.

Air bubbles in the sand can mean a clam is just a few inches from the surface.

Once these food sources are identified, physical survival seems almost assured, barring some venomous attack or fatal accident.

What about mental health?

Certainly, the hope of rescue must be maintained, so you devote some time to facilitating such a rescue.

Can you build a raft, tying small logs together with vines?

Do you see any other body of land on the horizon?

Would your homemade craft survive the waves or could you even stay on it?

Maybe, the survival odds are better just staying on the island.

Is "SOS" still an international distress symbol?

Every day, one might use a large stick to write "SOS" in the sand, only for the signal to be washed away by the incoming tide.  The next day, you write it again.

You talk out loud to yourself, give speeches, recite poetry and recall as many words as you can to keep your mind agile.

It would be even lonelier without the sound of your own voice.

Each day the sun comes up is another day in isolation.  Would you start a calendar, making a mark for each day spent there?  A day for a mark, a mark for each day?

Would 30 marks mean anything to you or 365 marks?

"What is time?" you will ask no one. 

If you pray, you wonder if your words received by any ears besides your own?

No one left behind a survival manual.

You must do this.