We often take life’s little thing for granted probably because we make ourselves so busy that we never slow down to look around. Deer hunting is a perfect example.
No matter how many times I head afield each fall, I fail to give honest reports to my family and friends upon my return.
“See anything?” my buddy will ask.
“Not really,” I reply. “Some squirrels.”
“See anything?” my dad will ask.
“One,” I reply. “But only for a couple of seconds. Not sure if it was a buck or a doe.”
Years of such bean-counting reports must have been weighing on my mind when I tossed my hunting gear into the bed of my pickup and headed for a favorite bow-hunting spot. I was on a mission to do as I often say — pay better attention to the little things.
Not surprisingly, this was one of my best days afield, and the action started as soon as I hit the highway. I saw: • Rolls of smoke billowing from a wood-stove chimney. There was no way of confirming this from the cab of my truck, but I just knew that smoke had to carry the sweet aroma of hard maple.
• Blaze-orange jackets pinned to a clothesline, flapping in the breeze. I wasn’t the only one thinking of the upcoming firearms season.
• A pickup loaded with tree stands, an ATV, an old reclining chair and a big, red Coleman cooler. As the truck passed me on the highway, I thought back to the days when my state’s firearms season was an unofficial family holiday.
• A gas station checkout counter stacked with energy drinks and beef jerky. While paying for my fuel, I noticed the guy standing next to me was wearing a fur-lined hat with ear flaps. He was talking to a man wearing camo suspenders and a red-and-black plaid flannel shirt.
• A bumper sticker that read, “Fear No Deer.” The truck was driven by a teen-ager who was wearing a blaze-orange knit hat with a running deer patch on the front of it.
Those are only five things I saw, and I wasn’t even in the woods yet. Just imagine how many things we could list after the end of a good day in the woods. Every little thing adds up to fill our memory banks.
Remember all of this the next time someone asks, “Did you see anything?”