Another year has passed by, leaving us to struggle with cleaning up after holiday parties and visiting family, bemoaning the near win of a great football game or cheering for a magnificent victory — and we’ll all be trying to program our brains to think “2026” while dating documents.
There are also those pesky New Year’s resolutions some traditionalists insist we must vow to uphold. It’s said that the most often made self-promise is to lose weight. Having some experience with such pledges has caused me to realize that my greatest weight loss has been to my wallet while paying for unused gym memberships and starvation plans. I’m trying a new approach to this resolution business: no more tough stuff.
This year, my self-improving vows look like this: fish more, hunt more, watch wildlife more and take a walk around the back forty more. I’ll also try and convince an incredibly precocious little English cocker named Bramble to come when she’s called, even before being cajoled, begged and bribed. I’ll even attempt to convince our indoor heifer Gracie that toilet paper isn’t a menu item.
You know, right now I’m starting to feel pretty good about this new approach.
Let’s see, what else can I twist my own arm to do … oh yes, my little inflatable boat! Made by Flycraft, this two-seater only got its bottom wet once last year and the 2-horsepower Honda has more dust on it than water stains. Sinful! Just maybe I can correct that shortcoming this year with the help of some friends. I’m sure I can splash the boat for a few fishing forays and get simultaneous credit for two resolutions at once. Brilliant! I feel like I’m on some kind of roll!
I haven’t been angling on Lake Erie in so long that I’m not sure I remember which side of the boat the water’s on. It’s not that I haven’t had the opportunity or hadn’t been invited, there just always seemed to be something interfering — probably some stupid resolution I shouldn’t have made. Even though I’m more of a carnitarian, I really enjoy the Lake Erie experience, and besides, it’s a simple matter to gift walleye fillets to a friend, though I will keep the yellow perch. An easy “yes” will get me on the water again. Problem solved!
Briar and Bramble, my two hunting companions, prefer 16-gauge shotguns. It doesn’t matter how I know that, just that I convinced my wife. The problem is finding inexpensive practice ammunition for the skeet range. The remedy to the issue is to set up a reloading station for this gauge so I can roll my own (to go along with my 12, 28 and 410 loaders). I suppose it’s just something I have to do this year.
As far as wildlife and bird watching go, for me it’s already sort of a full-time job. My old Burris 8-by-42 aren’t bad, but maybe I could use an upgrade to improve my birding skills. I wonder what Gracie, our Bernese mountain dog, recommends? If my wife really believed the story about the 16-gauge, she’s sure to fall for this one.
Finally, I’m going to try and get around to see friends a little more regularly. Family, we’re born with and they’re valued. They’re also ours without much choice. I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage, “You can pick your…” — well, never mind about that.
We choose our friends in some sort of silent, mutual ritual that’s seldom verbally acknowledged. Most have similar interests or life experiences that lend to easy conversation. Some pass through our lives as we lose touch due to distance or rougher circumstances, though they’re often remembered. Others, we see or talk to regularly. This year, in my own way, I hope to acknowledge their value a little more often. They’re among the greatest gifts of our lives and if they aren’t worth a pledge, what is?
You know, these just may be the best New Year’s resolutions I’ve ever attempted. I can see it now, “Yes, Snookums, I know the fence needs mending, but you understand that I have these important resolutions to tend to …”
“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”
— Shakespeare
