December marks a very special time of year for me and, I would suspect, for the majority of you. Christmas represents the most obvious of our coming celebrations as it relates to religious beliefs and worship as well as our secular merriments and customs.
This is a time for family, tradition, the giving and receiving of gifts, gorging ourselves on incredible meals, gathering with our best of friends, recalling memories of years past and the making of memories for years ahead.
Some of my fondest recollections from bygone holiday seasons include traditional hunts with my brother, Mitch, during our youth.
We lived amid the rural landscape of northern Illinois and sunrise on Christmas morning would often find the two of us in a deer blind within walking distance of our house, reveling in the silence and beauty of this special day.
Other years, when venison was already in the freezer, would find us strolling along an abandoned railroad right-of-way jump shooting cottontail rabbits or wandering the remnants of cornfields in search of pheasants. It didn’t really matter what specific game we pursued so long as we were side-by-side in the outdoors.
The fact that these were holiday forays simply guaranteed that we would be unfettered by competition. Everyone else seemed huddled somewhere inside, sheltered from the cold, while engaged in his or her own holiday traditions.
We were always alone in the field and these were some of the finest days my brother and I spent together.
Since moving to the mountain west, those traditional Christmas outings have fallen by the wayside. There’s just something about a gap of 1,200 miles that impedes the old ways. Instead, I’ve found myself engaged in other pursuits – though as often as possible they involve the great outdoors.
Whether fishing through a hole in the ice or trudging through snow-laden pines with camera in hand, I love the peace and solitude found in God’s natural cathedral on this holy day. I always find a spiritual renewal and closeness to my Creator in the wild and these excursions always take me back to my youth in pleasant memories of past hunts.
Renewal is part and parcel of this holiday season as we also celebrate the coming new year. This is a time of retrospection when we review and analyze our past, as well as a time of introspection, as we look inside ourselves and take an accounting of our lives.
Personally, I’ve never been one for making New Year’s resolutions. Nonetheless, I do take stock of my victories and my failures from year to year and measure them against where I think I should be when I toss out an old calendar. The conclusion is usually the same – there is always more work than time, and always more time than money.
However, the single thing I enjoy most about this holiday season is the perspective it brings. In the final tally at year’s end, work and money always take a back seat. What matters most are the experiences I’ve had, the memories they’ve created and the friends I’ve made along the way.
In my own life, the grand majority of these victories are related to the outdoors and the people I meet on the water and in the fields and forests of this nation. Whatever goals I set or promises I make to myself for the coming year, they always include increasing my wilderness adventures and expanding my relationships among sportsmen.
I’m very proud of who and what we are – as a group.
Sportsmen belong to a unique breed in that we see the world at its most basic. Our values have a foundation of simplicity, clarity and truth that can only be realized when you get close to the earth and its creatures. When you take part in the cycle of life at its core, you cannot help but come away with an understanding that affects the whole of your existence.
This is our greatest value and this is our greatest gift.
As you move forward in this holiday season to enjoy its pleasures and practice your personal customs, be certain to set aside at least a few moments to give thanks for the many blessings we have… the beauty and diversity of our landscapes, the wealth of creatures that call them home, and the brothers and sisters who stomp these lands in search of those same values that you find there.
We have much for which to be thankful.
I wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!