To sum it up…
Andrews and Danielle are rare and precious teachers. The landscapes tracked together as a community encompass both the world all around us and the world deep within us. In seeking the story of the red squirrel, the same inspired curiosity draws out the story of who we are, how we became, and who we are still becoming. Through powerful group experiences the art of tracking becomes a life skill and a brilliant, beautiful way of seeing our own journey and the journey of those around us.
- Kate Boverman, (past attendee)
What We Do
Standard Expeditions
One on one, or small group excursions with Bones.
Classes
Group learning
Death Guide
Learn more about Andrews’ work with end of life transition.
Stay
Stay in Merrifield Farm’s own glamping bus!
More about
Andrews
Raised by a family and neighborhood full of explorers, adventurers, readers, activists, passion seekers and connoisseurs of life, I headed to Maine in my late teens to continue a life of tending crops, working with animals and messing about in the woods.
After nearly forty growing seasons in a row, farming was beginning to feel like work and seriously getting in the way of my meanderings in the hills.
There was way too much going on out there to be missed while planting, weeding and harvesting. I love you vegetables, but it was time for me to start seeing others!
Though I have enjoyed plenty of outings over the years, both local and far afield, and shared the things I’ve learned with many, it was time for me to switch things up and focus my intentions on manifesting THE dream job – woods explores with people like you who feel a hunger to connect with and learn about our surroundings.
Broadening my understanding of our home and those who inhabit it is my greatest passion, but what really gets me fired up is helping to instill this curiosity in others.
More about
Danielle
Danielle has always loved to play in the woods. When she’s not out tracking with Bones you can probably find her picking berries, watching caterpillars and building fairy houses with her 3 year old daughter, Raven. Danielle has been teaching nature connection & outdoor adventure programs for 20 years, including camps for families and teens with Children of the Earth Foundation, guiding sea kayaking trips in Alaska, and living for a year in a wigwam style shelter in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey as a caretaker at the Tom Brown Jr. Tracker School.
Currently she also teaches earth- based healing classes for adults at a school called WildernessFusion and sees clients in her healing practice which she describes as tracking & deep connection on the inner landscape.
More things Danielle loves: wildlife tracking, bobcats, naturalist studies, foraging, singing, tanning animal hides, knitting, basketmaking, swimming, kayaking, cross-country skiing, birdwatching, listening, honesty, gratitude, silliness, laughter, campfires, & the wild ride of being alive on this amazing planet.
Merrifield Farm
Not long before falling in love with Johnny Pease, my favorite guy and mate of over thirty-five years, a dear friend and I came upon what was to become an extension of my very flesh while ramming around the backroads in our wreck of a car.
The month was May and as we bounced along, headlights shut off to enjoy the full moon, suddenly an open expanse of fertile land, set up high like a bowl of deep soil placed in the hands of wooded ridges, appeared to the west. An ancient apple tree glowed in full bloom under the moon and the field was coming in nicely with a thick crop of hay. Three brooks surrounded the place and talked with each other as we lay mesmerized on our backs next to the tree, a light smell of blossoms giving me the odd sense of floating in mid-air towards the moon.
This is where John and I live and farm. Surrounded by miles of uninterrupted woods and a smattering of friendly human neighbors, it has been a spectacular place to grow, explore and raise our two daughters - now young women with farms of their own. I am eager to share this paradise with you as we wander along its ridges and beyond.
