Going In , Going Out

I have wanted to begin writing here again. But at the same time I've been studiously avoiding it. There are various excuses, though the root cause is that I simply am not up to the introspection that usually comes with writing, even in its mundane forms. (Why this is I'm not clear on myself.) That explains partly why my posts last summer and fall tended toward tightly factual accounts of fishing or hunting trips.

Keeping up on the surface of things has been an effective short term survival strategy. But I am more and more conscious feeling hobbled, spiritually and mentally, and I fear too I could acquire a permanent internal limp.

Relax. That's as far as I'll take the navel gazing today. I don't know if I'll venture into any of these matters here later, though writing about anything, if I'm at my best, often forces some attention on my inner life, even if I never address it directly.

To update you on the really important matters...

I did have a nice grouse hunt over break, seeing two and shooting one. Didn't end up with any ducks in my bag after three more trips, but found some promising spots for next season and have plans for lots of scouting between now and then. Stockerfest on the Huron river is less than three months away now, and the trout opener less than four.

I probably find more grounds for optimism in the outdoor life than in anything else. Many people claim to have been saved from despair by nature. I wonder if this is simply because it holds out so many possibilities for what do do next?