Life in the Open

OK, I stole the title from Marble's Products. But I really like it, and in this day and time, there probably aren't many people that remember when Marble's used that by-line.

I don't live life in the open as much as I would like to. If I could have chosen my exact path through life, I would have spent much more time outside. Not just outside the house, but OUTSIDE the normal American lifestyle as well.

I have spent time in the jungle, the desert, on the ocean. I've drank beer on the Carlsberg brewery tour. I've walked up Perdiz on the Patagonia. I've shot geese in the grain fields of Saskatchewan and Eiders off the coast of Maine. I've canoed some "rowdy stretches". I've been bitten by a rattlesnake. I had a Beagle run a pair of wolves. I've seen the "foxfire" in the woods. Carried home a pocketful of persimmons wrapped in my handkerchief. Cooked fish over a can of Sterno. Had 10 feet of air under my Jeep. Cleaned a 571 pound Black Bear with a pocket knife. Killed a whitetail deer, running, at over 400 yards. Killed a 100 ducks in a morning. Killed more rabbits that 2 men could carry to the house. Shot pigeons in a blizzard at 10 below zero. Locked out of a submarine. Made a crash landing in a C5 Galaxy. Sat on the Little Mermaid's lap. Watched the Celtics play at Boston Garden. Saw Van Halen live. Stood on the Royal yard of the Eagle. Killed a banded Brant. Won a bronze medal in the National Trophy Match at Camp Perry.

But I've never camped a night in the high mountains. Never watched a herd of African plains game come to a water hole. Never seen a Polar Bear swimming in the open sea. Never been in a gunfight (in peacetime). Never got to meet Earnhardt, Ray Nitschke, or Larry Bird. Never seen a Leprechaun. Never lived in a log cabin. Never seen a steam locomotive. Never had to treat a "sucking chest wound" (on a human). Sorry to admit, I'm not all that good with an ax. Never seen Sasquatch. BUT, I'm only 57 so I might accomplish a few of those things before I die.

Part of my mental picture of "life in the open" is the literal sense of those words. Knowing how to predict weather from looking at nature around you, for example. Many times I can tell when rain is coming. Sometimes I can tell how severe the Winter is going to be. I like being able to look over the landscape and immediately be able to pick a likely place to camp, hunt, fish, find a little natural snack, watch for anyone coming, that I don't want to find me. I see more wildlife than most people, just because I am always on the lookout for what is around me. I enjoy the extremes of weather more than anyone I know. But I am far from being a true outdoorsman. I probably know more than I can recall, maybe if I was put in a certain circumstance, some of my suppressed memories would come back.

I have tried to teach my sons everything that I know. In some areas they have surpassed me; in others they aren't even close. So I keep working at it. I want my grandsons to be totally comfortable outdoors. My sons and I are pretty well set, and with life slipping away from me at an alarming rate, I guess I could just relax and enjoy what I have. But there is so much more out there, and I think I want a bigger piece of it.