D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
December 2009
The Gift of Giving
Some outdoors Christmas-giving ideas that don't
come with a price tag.
It's the holiday season, and for this outdoor writer, that can only translate one way — Christmas, and with a big "C." That fact also directs me to the meaning of this special holiday, and that is the gift of giving. After all, for Christians, Christmas stands for God-The-Father giving His only Son as a free gift for all of mankind — that Son being none other than Jesus-The-Christ.
With that theme in mind, I thought I'd focus on the idea of giving instead of getting, and this time, not on material things or gadgets, but on human relationships.
Number one on the list is the idea of putting someone else first before our own selves. Yeah, sure, maybe we like to hunt, fish, camp or hike and our "significant other" doesn't; maybe they don't like any outdoor activity. What can we do about it?
Well, if we're men, maybe we could take (not send) our woman to a big city like Phoenix, Tuscon, Albuquerque or El Paso (their choice, not ours) for the weekend and go with 'em shopping! I know, I know, that's a Sacrifice with a big "S"!
Or if that's out of our budget, how about going to Cruces for the day and taking 'em to a fancy dinner and maybe a chic-flick?
If you're a female with a partner that doesn't like your outdoor activities, why not treat him to a favorite sporting event and you go along, even if it means professional wrestling!
Or let's say that the shoe is on the other foot, and it is them who likes the outdoors. Why not sacrifice and do what they wanna do for a whole weekend?
I know of a man who goes deer hunting every year and he takes along his little camper. His wife goes along, too, and while he's out traipsing in the woods, she catches up on all of her reading.
Yet, she has a hot meal ready when he comes back and a breakfast done before he goes forth. She listens to his tales of woe or success and takes his picture when he bags a deer. She never hunts herself, nor intends to; she is there for support and companionship, and I give her an A-plus because I admire her unselfishness.
I think another gift that keeps on giving is a canine companion — not some little pipsqueak of a dog, but one that can go the extra mile for that outdoors-person. A dog we don't choose for what we like or want or need, but one that fits the person we're giving it to.
My number-one activity, even above hunting, is to hike, and for almost all of my adult life, there has been anywhere from one to four dogs with me at any given time. Most weren't bred to be hunting dogs, but were mutts of mixed-breed ancestry, yet many of them accompanied me on hunts, too.
A dog broadens the outdoor horizons of the person it is with. That's because we get involved with what it does as it moves along with us: It barks, we look to see at what; it chases and we get involved, even if it only means watching or encouraging. We (I) talk to our dogs when they're with us. I couldn't imagine many outings without one at my side.
But let's digress from our partner's needs and look beyond: Do you know a youngster, not your own, who could benefit from your outdoor expertise? Maybe a child without a parent or with parents who don't go outdoors? That's whom a person needs to target to offer and take 'em along (of course with the parent's permission).
There is an old hunting saying that goes like this, "Take a kid hunting and you won't be hunting the kid someday." I believe that is a general "true-ism" — not necessarily always so, but mostly so.
And it is not about hunting; it can be about most any ol' outdoor activity. It's the idea of giving of ourselves for the benefit of others.
It may be that we just sit on the shore of Lake Roberts and skip stones across the water for an hour, or lie on our backs in a grassy meadow and gaze up at the clouds and figger out if that one looks like a dog running or an elephant trumpeting.
Another category of giving may be to help another adult along life's pathway — maybe someone who is hurting or grieving or just plain stressing out. Maybe they just need someone to do things with.
I have a friend who has been going through some very hard times with both his business and one of his children. When I see that things are really getting to him, I drop my plans and grab some guns and water-filled jugs and we go shooting for a coupla hours.
This most recent time, he was really down. I took a .12-gauge shotgun, some shells, and a coupla empty paint cans. He got the first shot, because it wasn't about me. When that old gun exploded and the paint can blew apart and flew 30 feet into the air, a grateful smile crept across his creased and lined face. And for just that instant he forgot his troubles and stress.
But it doesn't have to be about guns and shooting; it could just be taking a hike with someone or even just listening to someone as they pour out their troubles upon you without you saying one word back. It's about being there.
By now you get my drift. I'll say no more, except for those of you who still appreciate "my holiday," I say (to everyone), have a very Merry Christmas!
As always keep the sun forever at your back, the wind forever in your face, and may The Forever God bless you too!
When not ramblin' outdoors, Larry Lightner lives in Silver City.