Outdoor Truths

I can't remember a nicer August than we've been having in my area. It has acted more like May. The mornings have been nice, the rain adequate, and I'm having to mow my yard every few days. While it acted more like May, it has felt more like September. I feel rushed to get fully prepared for deer season. I still have a field to plant and a couple of tree stands to hang before I can think about getting all my equipment together. And then until November, I'll watch and wait. Watch my trail cameras and wait until I see a buck I want to hunt. Sure, I may harvest a doe for a friend in need, but for me, I'll watch and wait for that buck until closer to the rut. As many of you know, during that time, what shows up in the woods may not have been seen on a camera any time before. The neighboring bucks will begin moving away from their home territory to look for that first doe in heat. This is when hunting gets good. And for me, since I only have so many days I can hunt, I don't want to waste my time and energy on unproductive times. Sure, I love just sitting in the woods, but I also like the hope and anticipation of a harvest.

I think everything in life works best when there is an anticipated outcome. Even doing nothing can have an anticipated outcome. It's that rest will occur. When we do nothing without an anticipated outcome, we say we're bored. There's a difference. The fear, however, in thinking only about the outcome, is we can fail to enjoy the process. We can get so wrapped up in the results, we forget about some of the delightful details that gave us the best chance for the success we expect. Each day I make a to-do list. It is a list of outcomes I want to accomplish. But the outcomes are nothing without a plan to achieve them. Today, what will make my day unforgettable will not be all I was able to accomplish, but it will be something special, or different, or unexpected, that will turn one mundane outcome into a memory. And memories are the things we share with others.