Wings pull at the sky.
Winds whisper destinations.
Is it all out there?

Spring rains are washing away the snow… that could mean serious flooding in some areas, but maybe Mother Nature will respond with some kindness this spring.

No matter what happens, summer will come and we will get to enjoy a few months of long days and warm nights. As much as I like winter… I also like it when it’s done.

Wings pull at the sky.
Winds whisper destinations.
Is it all out there?

Spring rains are washing away the snow… that could mean serious flooding in some areas, but maybe Mother Nature will respond with some kindness this spring.

No matter what happens, summer will come and we will get to enjoy a few months of long days and warm nights. As much as I like winter… I also like it when it’s done.

I’ve been watching the sky for geese and seeing only a few of the big local Canadas moving around. Pretty soon though the sky will fill with birds. Already I hear robins and cardinals in morning. Those sounds mean only one thing, soon the grass will green up, the leaves will burst from the trees and the days will grow ever longer.

Then I will begin to wish the same old wish that I’ve wished for the past 13 years: that I could make a living camping with my kids. Chances are better nowadays, but I don’t think I’m a reality TV guy and dumping my day job to sell sponsorships to “Turbulent Tent Camping” might not be a sound business decision.

But still the dream survives and every year it is sparked by the sounds of geese returning to start the summer season.

Another Friday slipped away… but I’m still getting here three times a week, so bear with me. And, get this. Remember that book “Hunting Season” I reviewed a few issues ago? Well, I’ve sent off an email to the author, Elle, with some questions and it looks like she will respond. Who knows, she might be sweet on me. Probably not. I’m not the Wall Street type. Anyway… I have a cool new multitool everyone should run out and buy.

It is the Spyderench by Spyderco. You can find it here http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=286

This handy little tool is fully functional with a knife, pliers, adjustable wrench, four driver tips, a sharpening steel and it comes apart so you can use the wrench and drivers individually or in tandem. It is very cool. Yes, it costs $150, but it is worth it. The Spyderench also comes with a nylon pouch or can be carried with it’s pocket clip. Check it out you will love it.

Something for everyone... a toolbox in your pocket.

I’m going to have the change the name of this entry if I keep going to bed early on Wednesday nights!  Sorry about that. Here is this week’s installment

Now comes flowing sap

First sign that the woods revive

Can you taste the joy?

Maple syrup season is here. Nights below freezing and days above. The maple sap is flowing in to buckets and jugs all over the region. Soon the fires will be lit an the syrup will be cooking . Pancake breakfasts at all the local churches will include a selection of the finest homebrew fresh from the trees. This is another reason I like living in the country.

After the Friday post, a reader asked me what I like about South Dakota… and why I keep mentioning moving back there some day. Well, here is what I told her…

What South Dakota gives me is a feeling of freedom. It is the same feeling I got on the ocean when I was in the Navy… a feeling of no boundaries. You look out over a big world stretching before you and you can see all the way to the edge. Top that off with friendly people, incredible sunsets and abundant wildlife and you have a wonderful place to be. It is a place of infinite variety. Don’t get me wrong… it can be a harsh place… hot in the summer, cold in the winter and windy all the time. But that only serves as a reminder of your independence. To me independence doesn’t mean having no bosses, it means taking care of yourself. And there is a certain pride in being successful in a place where sometimes it is a bit more difficult to get things done. And in South Dakota there are places I can go where I won’t see another person or hear a car passing by on the highway. When I want to “get away” I really want to “get away.”

So there ya got it! Look around. You’ve got it pretty good.

Go places. Do things.

I could not be a truck driver…on the trip from Iola, through Chicago to Michigan City, Indiana I ate a whole tub of Whoppers and a bag of almonds… if I was a driver I’d weigh 300 pounds.

I could not live Chicago… Don’t even like to drive through it. Now I know I exactly why I want to move back to South Dakota. Some day.

I could not work in a toll booth. It would kill me.

I could not spend more than a weekend in this type of community.

Berdette Zastrow is flying in for this meeting. I think O’Hare Airport is bigger than the town she lives in. I wonder if she will get lost going from the gate to the baggage claim.

After this meeting I’m going back to the woods.

I missed Haiku Wednesday.. Sorry.
But I was thinking about it. So here’s what I’ve got for Haiku Thursday.

Cold creeping back in.
Red sky betrays a warning.
Is this really spring?

The fading weeks of winter seem to make everyone a little edgy. I remember a great episode of the old TV show Northern Exposure where everyone in town was acting really odd just before the ice broke up on the river. That’s how I feel now… ready for spring to be here. I’ve already noticed the days getting longer. Now I want them to get warmer.

Some people apparently don’t believe me that “Hunting Season” by Elle is a real book.

Trust me, it’s real. And it’s really interesting. Who knew there were so many hard and fast rules? By re-reading this book as something other than an edgy look at urban life I’m learning that, as Paul Harvey used to say, “It is not one world.”

For instance: the phone number exchange. Elle declares there is a seven-day rule. That is the guy has to call within seven days or he has no chance. She won’t even give him the time of day if he is one day late. Well, I say hang on there little missy. That seven day rule might be fine and dandy for Wall Street banker types with nothing to do but gather up Obamabucks. But in the real world, there are crops to planted, hay to be cut and fishing to be done during the “open season.” If it takes a real man eight or 10 days to make a phone call, so be it. It doesn’t make him a bad man. It makes him busy and if the woman is so high-maintenance that she needs affirmation of her beauty and intrigue EVERY seven days, I say run away. That’s a problem waiting to happen.

Around where I life there is a guy who says, “Marry a farm girl. They are just as pretty. Easier to get along with and work three times as hard as any city girl ever will.”

Don’t get me wrong… “Hunting Season” is a good book. It is very entertaining, thought provoking and worth your time to read. But as a self-help manual, it is regional in scope. I don’t know that what works in a Manhattan martini bar will have the same effect at the Leola Rhubarb Festival.
Just something to think about.

Still take a look at this video of Elle promoting her book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlf_oGzq24E

No, not me… I’ve been 40 for a while. The temperature finally hit 40 around here, but I know it won’t last. Always one good snowfall at the end of February or in early March. Let’s hope not next weekend when I have to drive to Northern Indiana for a meeting of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers.

Soon the sap will be running and folks around here will be making maple syrup, that means turkey hunting can’t be far behind and that is the official start of spring. I can’t wait.

On Monday, look for a bit of an update on the book “Hunting Season” by Elle.

Until then, go places. Do things.