Tomorrow is the day set aside each year to encourage people to put down their tablets, close their notebooks, put their computers to sleep, turn off the TV and head outside. National Hunting & Fishing Day is the day the people of the outdoors are supposed to open our figurative doors and welcome everyone.
For many, like New Yorkers, there are incentives like free fishing. For others, there are the simple pleasures of leaves that are already beginning their turn toward the brilliant colors of fall. And if getting outside to breathe fresh air and see those gorgeous leaves before they disappear and the grey of winter sets in isn't temptation enough to head outdoors, I don't know what is.
We, for example, are headed to the mountains for a multi-tasking time. It's not only one of our favorite times to be outdoors, it's our wedding anniversary. So we're revisiting some of the favorite places we've frequented throughout our marriage. Since we're traveling as a twosome again, meaning we can be spontaneous. These days it doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to decide to go skydiving, but it does mean I won't hesitate to take a good book and a folding chair and enjoy the mountain air.
There are a plethora of things you can do in the outdoors, and most of them can be done at little, if any, cost. If you're a city dweller, check in the pantry for some aging bread, crackers, chips or whatever, grab the kids or grandkids and head out to a city park and feed your foodstuffs to the wildlife (if that's permitted, of course). Be prepared to deal with squeals of delight and laughter.
If you're heading out for some fishing, take along friends or family members who don't always have the opportunity to get outside. A few years ago, I casually mentioned to a neighbor that I was thinking about going fishing. He told me that he'd not been fishing since he was a little boy, but often remembered how much fun it was. I invited him along and it was the beginning of what has become a great friendship, despite the fact neither of us caught anything.
That's another thing to remember - neither hunting or fishing are entirely about catching, they're as much about the
experience as the harvest or catch. In fact, one of my favorite colleagues sent me this description of his recent elk hunting trip "..spent a week in Colorado's high country. I didn't get an elk, but I got what I really needed: a week with no cell phone service and lots of mountain vistas."
That's all you need to know about why we need to help introduce others to the outdoors. It's not just good for our sports, it's good for all our souls.
Get out there this weekend- and take someone along.
--Jim Shepherd