With summer winding down, and hunting season close to kicking into full gear, the wife and I really wanted to do one last – purely for Abby – activity.   Then, one night while reading one of her favorite books, I instantly knew where we were heading – the zoo.

Abby loves to read books involving animals, and she loves to name the animals as we read through the books.  She loves all the animals – giraffes, zebras, elephants, deer, and turkey – just to name a few, and she takes great pride in knowing them all.  In fact, one night she even corrected me and let me know that the animal we were looking at was indeed a jaguar – and not a cheetah – as I originally thought.

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If any of you Michiganders who read this happen to be in the area, you should stop by our booth at the Dewitt Ox Roast this weekend.  A few of the SimplyOutdoors crew are going to be there, and we’d love to have you stop by and say hello.  You’ll find us in the Arts and Crafts area.

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After stumbling across this picture, I’m starting to get a little concerned.  I know that bears inhabit many of the woods around us, and while their population may be small in my area of Michigan, if they are starting to get this smart I might need to be careful when scouting, hunting, or simply heading to my treestand.

And, Mike, my fellow Michigan hunting blog friend and bear hunter, you and your brothers might want to look out; it appears that the bears are learning!:):)

If you want to see another pic of this bear in a treestand, head on over to Tom Remington’s Black Bear Blog, and read this post.  Too crazy!

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Sure, a lot of the sidewalks are a muddy mess, and a few of them are quite treacherous – ice-covered and very slick from the snow that has melted during the day and then re-froze at night.  But that hasn’t kept the wife, Abby, or myself from enjoying a walk the last couple evenings.

It’s interesting this time of the year as well.  On one end it’s great to see the snow disappearing and the start of spring begin to arrive.  But, on the other end, it sure makes for one heck of a mess because sidewalks and streets are wet……and dirty…… and nasty in a lot of areas – not that those things were going to keep us from enjoying being outside, though.

The last few nights we’ve huffed it through different neighborhoods throughout the city we call home, and we’ve had a blast doing it.  And it felt great to be outside while only wearing a light jacket or a hooded sweatshirt for warmth.  I loved ice fishing, and I love getting outside any time of the year, but being outside in the slightly milder temps is way more bearable…….especially for Abby.

I know these mild temps might not stay around for long, but the family and I sure have been taking full advantage of them.  They have allowed us to emerge from winter’s grasp and take in all of the things that come with spring.  And they’ve allowed us to slow down and look at our little community from a different perspective; to look at everything at 3mph rather than at 30mph.

Walks in the city definitely don’t compare to chasing after whitetails or fishing for steelhead, but they still have their purpose.  Plus, they show that getting outside, no matter what method you prefer, definitely has its benefits.  It allows you to slow down and take in your surroundings – to appreciate every animal seen and every tree passed.  It allows you to appreciate every step.

And, whether you’re in the woods or in the park, isn’t that what being outside is all about?

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Kristine, the OBS extraordinaire, who has been tagged as the “First Lady Of Outdoor Blogging” or the “Pied Piper of Outdoor Blogging”, finally has her own outdoor blog.

We have been reading Kristine’s work for many years, and we’ve enjoyed every bit of it, but there was one drawback to “her” outdoor writings:  they were always affiliated with an outdoor company, or an outdoor organization.  Now, however, with the inception of  The Tenderfoot Diaries we are going to see a more personal side of Kristine – her feelings about the outdoors; her feelings about fishing; her feelings about outdoor life in general.  No longer will she have to hold back, or worry about how her writing will affect someone else – we are going to see Kristine as Kristine – and I for one cannot wait.

It is going to be nice to see a more personal side of Kristine.  Hopefully she kicks back and starts off her blog with a bang.  I’m looking forward to what my fellow Michigan blogger has to say, and after all the years of hearing from Kristine we are finally going to see her “let her hair down” a little bit.

We can’t wait, and we wish her the best with her new outdoor blogging soapbox.  Heck, we might even get to see some pictures, so stop on over and check it out.

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