![]() Nature has grown not quite natural in another way fishermen can be thankful for. Dead reckoning, let’s acknowledge without lamentation, has gone the way of alchemy. Many anglers today, to be sure, have a solid notion about their location right up until the GPS goes blank. An area technician familiar with the spot rode his utility vehicle to the rescue. To not fully recognize one’s place is, in a sense, to be lost.Ĭonsider an Ohio Division of Wildlife officer in Fayette County who traced the origin of a distress call made from inside Deer Creek Wildlife Area, located southwest of Columbus, by noting a wandering angler’s description of nearby trees marked with orange paint. More: 'Forever chemicals': Eating the fish you catch can be harmful to your health ![]() But the resulting need to know what’s what revolves increasingly around the readings on an electronic device rather than any enhanced knowledge of the patterns of living things. But technology actually serves to separate ardent users from a world as it is.įishing, for instance, has arguably been made more productive by the surge of gadgets. Gadgetry is peddled on the dubious premise that confusion can be minimized, if not eliminated. Nowadays, the planet is sprawling, and sprawl creates confusion. While I may not ski as much as I’d like and still think about the costs associated with the activity, I don’t hesitate to find ways in my life or the life of others to experience the outdoors.When Izaak Walton’s "The Compleat Angler" was published in 1653, a fisher’s sphere rarely stretched beyond their local streams and ponds. Skiing changed my relationship with the outdoors and helped me think differently about outdoor experiences. ![]() Or, how for some students in the school district, their sixth grade science camp experience is the first and perhaps only camping experience they will ever have. In my role as a School Board Member, I have been thoughtful about what it means to have students live minutes from the beach yet not ever have the opportunity to visit the ocean and hesitate going into the water because they don’t know how to swim. I do however think about what it means to give people the opportunity to experience the outdoors in a meaningful way for the first time. My current professional and community commitments keep me very busy and I don’t get to ski as often as I would like (which could explain why my skills as a skier have plateaued). So when that one “outdoor friend” invited me to Yosemite, I was happy to say yes to my very first visit to the national park. That experience also motivated me to try other outdoor experiences. I must admit that while I’m still not the best of skiers, I continue to enjoy skiing as much as I did day one – that hasn’t changed one bit. That first experience has led to many others. In addition to the physical joy it brought to me, it also allowed me to temporarily put aside all other worries, concerns, and distractions and simply focus on the skis, the mountain, and me. I liked the snow and learned how much I liked skiing on powder. I loved being on the mountain and challenging myself to get down while gliding through the snow. Nonetheless, it put a genuine smile on my face. I didn’t pick up skiing easily and struggled quite a bit. ![]() I took ski lessons the first half of the morning and skied the rest of the day. My trip to Tahoe changed my relationship with the outdoors. I was a working adult who could now afford the ticket to go skiing and to see the snow. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I had that one “outdoors friend” who encouraged me to take a trip to Tahoe because she knew someone who could get us discounted tickets to go skiing. I do remember making it to Santa’s Village in San Bernardino in the early 80’s and seeing some snow used to decorate the place. As a young first-generation Latina from Southern California, snow was not part of my reality. I didn’t grow up visiting ski resorts but remembered hearing about them and wondering not only what Mammoth was like…but also what snow was like. I vividly remember coming back from winter break and sitting in a high school geometry course and having all of my tablemates tell me about their visit to Mammoth over the winter vacation. Growing up, I was surrounded by kids in schools who talked about skiing and going to places with snow.
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