Reflections of a year gone by

It's time for the last column for the year. This is a chance to reflect on the happenings of the past 52 weeks.

The year contained 366 days, the same as every leap year, but somehow, someway, the time seemed to fly by, making me feel I didn't really live through 12 months, but only eight or nine. But, alas, the year 2012 is about to end.

My wife Garnet and I didn't fish or hunt as much as we wanted too. Our camping trips were fewer than we expected, and so were our day trips. My goodness, readers will think we didn't do much during 2012. But we were busy with outdoor adventures most of the time.

Although the two ideas in the last paragraph seem to present different thoughts, both are true. Fact is, we never spend as much time outdoors as we want, and always seem to be busy experiencing or planning an adventure. We will try to do better in 2013.

Our favorite camping spot is site No. 23 at Potholes State Park. This campsite is 23 miles from our driveway, so travel back home for any reason is reasonable. Twice a year we spent 10 days at the site, and plan to make at least three different trips there in 2013.

This wasn't our only camping trip. We spent several days at Steamboat Rock State Park, and also a few days at Confluence State Park near Wenatchee. All of these parks are well maintained, and are located in interesting spots providing a base camp with areas to explore nearby.

We haven't conducted much dry camping over the years, where there is no water, sewer or electrical hookups, but this may change. We plan to camp at Blue Lake along Highway 17 during the opening day of the general fishing season, which is the last Saturday in April. And perhaps, a camping trip to Martha Lake, during the March 1 opener would be appropriate.

Outdoor ethics was one of our topics this year, and one we'll continue this practice next year. It's worthwhile to breach the subject with the hope adults will continue the conversation with our youth.

The same goes for outdoor survival. Discussing how to survive when lost is an important topic. Again this is an area where adults need to continue the discussion with future outdoors women and men. After all, doing so may save a life.

Last year, at a December Christmas party, I won a Kindle Fire. At first the purpose of the device eluded me. I found out e-mail could be checked if Wi-Fi was available.

Someone finally told me they are great for reading books. Reading books? What happened to the books with two covers and lots of pages in between? I found out within a couple of months the convenience of the Kindle Fire. I only download free books, and have had a hankering to read some of the older classics.

In the past year, I've read Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Jack London provided "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild." Benjamin Franklin's autobiography was interesting in spots, but dull in others.

My interest in people in the 1800s as pioneers of America is extensive. Believe it or not, I found Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" and "Little Men" a fun and interesting read. One book, "Daughter of Joy" was about a pioneer woman and so were "Farm Girl" and "Letters of a Woman Homesteader."  

It is interesting to read the old way or style of writing, which provides insights or ideas into what I may write in the future.

I have a novel in my belly begging to come out. As soon as we have a sponsor it will publish in the Columbia Basin Herald on Wednesdays in serial form, a little each week. The setting is a pioneer walking or riding into this area in the late 1860s or early 1870s and interacting with the people who are already here.

This column

My goal this year in this column, and every year, is to provide helpful tips for outdoor-minded people to better enjoy their time when passing through the front door and into the Great Outdoors.

Reader comments and suggestions are welcome. Let me know what you are thinking, and feel free to suggest subjects to cover.

Wolves will continue to be a hot topic in our columns. I still think the wolf situation would be solved sooner if a couple of packs took up residence on the west side of the Cascade Mountains.

I am mindful of the need to teach our youth the wonders of the outdoors including fishing, survival, birding, hunting, outdoor cooking, camping, hiking and all of the other outdoor activities. Stay tuned, I will try to cover it all.

Garnet and I wish you the best new year of your life.