Fitting In
Yesterday morning I put in another short hike. My pack is getting fuller as I add the things that I will need on my upcoming trip. To make the weight more realistic I added some of Blake's lifting weights. The scale said forty-four pounds. More weight than I have practiced with so far this year. And it felt great.
A month ago I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to get in shape. But yesterday as I hiked and shot arrows at mushrooms and the root balls of toppled trees, I finally started feeling like I'm physically ready for this hunt. I think I'm more excited than I've ever been.
I'm still getting all of my gear together but I think that I have most of what I need. But I can't find my folding meat saw. I know I used it on the last deer I harvested in January. Maybe I forgot to put it back in the pack and left it in the woods, but I'm sure I have had it since then. I should just order a new one but buying all of those little things keep adding up and this hunt is getting pricey, so I will keep looking. One thing sure, it's something that needs to go in the pack.
As I was hiking and sweating and swatting at bugs, and wondering if I can fit everything into my pack, I got to thinking about a conversation with one of my friends about sometimes feeling like they don't fit in. I'm sure that everyone has felt it, at least at some point. If you haven't, don't tell me or I'll feel like I don't fit in for sure. I feel that way often. Like when I'm blowing glass and people start asking questions about art or different artists. I'm clueless. It's caused me to attempt to change my title. When people ask what it takes to become a glass artist, I tell them that I don't know, I'm just an outdoorsman that blows glass for a living. Sometimes I start wondering if I really belong in those circles. Sometimes it even feels like I don't fit in with the outdoorsman which is the circle that I like to think I belong to. We'll be at the Iowa Deer Classic and the other vendors are talking about compounds and crossbows and all of the latest equipment that they have for sale, and there I sit sharing a story about chasing after a little mountain buck with a longbow. I get that blank look and I start asking myself, “do I really fit in here?”
But every once in a while I connect with someone. Last week it was an eighty-ish year old man that liked my antlers. He talked my ear off about hunting when he was a kid. I absolutely loved it. And I could tell that he loved telling me about it! When I connect with someone like that it feels great! One little interaction can make a bad day awesome! And that's when I know that I belong in the circle. I belong in the pack. Just like that meatsaw. It might not be used much, but when I need it, it's a game changer.
Now that we made it back to the meat saw, one way or another, I'm gonna find the one I lost or get a new one. It definitely belongs in the pack!
