What Does It Mean to Be a Man?

I’ve seen all kinds of definitions of what it means to be a
man, from being tough (Robert Mitchum) to being sensitive (Check out this Nick
Lowe video ) to being a canine.

Now, for the benefit of anyone who might be wondering
(women, young men, small terriers) I’ll tell you the number one thing about what it means
to be a man. And it’s only because my biology prevents me from being thrown out
of the fraternity that I can reveal the following:

We haven’t a clue about what it means to be one. There, I
said it. It’s true. Trust me. We don’t ask for directions because we don't get lost.
We never know we’re lost. So we don’t ask directions. If anyone you know denies
this truth, consider them lost.

A lot of writers, musicians, artists, and adolescents have
wrestled with this question over the years, from Jean-Jacques Rousseau (“Confessions”)
to Michel de Montaigne (he retired at
38!) to Philip Roth (my favorite: “My  Life
as a Man”) and L. Rust Hills (check out “How to Do Things Right: The
Revelations of a Fussy Man”) and we can now add to that distinguished list the
new magazine Kindling Quarterly.

More properly, Kindling Quarterly examines what it means to
be a dad these days, something that’s no less confusing (trust me). The Kindling
Quarterly is a handsome, perfect-bound, publication full of thoughtful essays.
David Michael Perez and P. August Heffner, the founders, sent me a copy in the
mail the other day, and I just started reading it last night.

I was drawn, quite naturally given my interest in food,
cooking, and this blog, to the interview with Rohan Anderson, the man behind
the blog Whole Larder Love. I might have had my head in a book for too long,
because I somehow did not know about Anderson’s blog.

He’s the father of two young girls (sound familiar?) but
he’s (how do I say this, ahem?) much more of a
man than I am. He hunts, gathers, gardens, forages, and does everything pretty
much damn well. He even published a book. Check it, and Kindling Quarterly out. Whether you are lost or not, they'll help you find your way.