The Plan
Planning for summer!
Saturday morning was a cold, 7 degree, perfectly still morning. And I was wishing that I was out there with my bow, waiting and watching the woods come to life. Instead, I was sipping coffee and looking out the window. And even though I love having warm feet, I missed that crisp cold air in my nose. Yet, even from my window seat it was a great morning to ponder.
Jenelle is sick and has tested positive for Covid and so we are all quarantining. I probably have it as well, as I had a little bit of a sore throat and some gunk in my chest, but felt fine otherwise. I felt easily winded and my chest felt a little heavy several times when I was outside. So with that in mind I figured it would be best to take it easy instead of traipsing around in the woods and inhaling that 7degree air. Which brings me back to my earlier pondering.
January is a season of change for me. Although bow season continues up into the beginning of February, a lot of the bucks have dropped their antlers. I love hunting in January but it's more of a time of observation and following tracks and seeing where the deer go. Mid January is when skiing generally starts for us. December rarely has enough base for cross country skiing and the slopes are packed with out-of-towners on Christmas break. We prefer the shorter lift lines and since Wisp Ski Resort is only a few miles away we wait for the crowds to disperse and usually go during the week.
And when the sun starts shining brighter and the days are getting longer, I start dreaming about the upcoming season, what trips and adventures will we take this year? I put bow hunting on the back burner and I start getting excited about spring. The canoes and paddles need attention. We start talking about all of the things we want to do.
My list for this year looks like this. Our 20th anniversary is this year so we want to do something special for that, maybe backpacking somewhere. An overnight turkey hunting backpack trip with some friends, a family backpacking trip, lots of canoeing and fishing mostly close by, but an overnighter or two would be great! Our church family is important to us as well so we keep time for that. Then we throw in our boys annual fish camp, and a couple of other kids camps. Between all of that and trying to make a living, and wow, our summer is packed!
And so if we are going to get anything done at all, we need to start picking and planning! I'm a dreamer. Thankfully Jenelle is a great planner. We pull out the calendar and see what we can make happen. When we let things get too busy, it can take the joy out of everything. And so we'll pick and choose, figuring out what fits best. There will be some disappointment as we realize that we can't do it all. But that is usually overshadowed by the excitement that comes from realizing that some of those things will probably happen if we take some time to plan.
And often the planning becomes another exciting part of the adventure.
And so here's to the plan.
May yours be filled with those details that make it truly a fun adventure!
