Some Christmas thoughts

The last couple of columns have suggested different potential presents for your favorite outdoors person. These suggestions were priced from only a few dollars to four or even five figure numbers, if you are so inclined and have the money. My price range is in the much lower level of things, but some folks might have the ability to give a lot.

I also discussed a potential problem with giving a gift card, allowing your nimrod the ability to select his/her own gift. For those readers who have followed my columns over the years, my suggesting a gift card has been a staple in my gift suggestions. Now that I’m once burned, I’m a little more cautious in making that recommendation.

Christmas is Wednesday of next week. Since we’ve touched on the secular aspects of the holiday, I think it’s time to discuss the reason the holiday is even celebrated at all. If your religious beliefs are Christian, you already understand the significance of the Christmas holiday. Jesus Christ humbled Himself by taking on human form to obey His Father and came to earth to be born, to teach and guide us, and to ultimately suffer and die for us to redeem us from our sins. No greater love can be given.

Every time I think about this, I am dumbfounded by the cruelty involved in Christ’s death. And He knew that pain and suffering was coming, even before He came and was born to redeem us. We all know man’s inhumanity to man exists in today’s world, but I’m not sure we can truly appreciate the cruelty imposed on Christ in His last days as a living human being on earth. A man in His physical prime killed by torture and crucifixion in a matter of hours. Wow!

Some of these thoughts might be better expressed around the Easter holiday, but I thought I would give you something to think about in the quiet moments while you’re cleaning up the festive wrappings left over from presents on Christmas morning.

Let’s change subjects here. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Fish and Wildlife Commission (MSBFWC) held their last meeting of the calendar year this past Dec. 12th. The meeting was a review of this past season’s fisheries management in Cook Inlet. It was also my last meeting as a commission member. My term is up at the end of this month, and I figured, after more than fourteen years as a commission member, it was time for some “new blood” and new perspectives on the commission.

I also saw the possibility that another shoulder surgery (my left side this time) was a distinct possibility and that I would need time to heal and recover. Sure enough, after some doctor visits and yet to be completed tests, I will probably be having shoulder surgery sometime this coming winter. That will tie me with my hunting partner who has had four joint replacements already. He’s had two shoulder and two hip replacements. This upcoming surgery will mark my fourth joint replacement surgery as well. Mine will include both shoulders, one knee, and one ankle replacement.

Anyway, at this special meeting, the borough mayor presented both Larry Engel, a seventeen-year commissioner who is also stepping down, and I with plaques thanking us for our service. She had some very kind words to say to both of us, which we both appreciated.

Toward the end of November, the MSBFWC had an informal dinner get-together to celebrate the holidays and talk about anything other than commission business. Larry and his wife weren’t able to attend. At that event, I was surprised to be singled out and presented with a nice card and a metal art cutout of a grayling I can hang on my wall. The folks also ended up buying my dinner, which was an appreciated gesture.

I’ve said this before, but this particular group of commission members is probably the best I have served with in my fourteen-year membership. Everybody is knowledgeable and willing to help with whatever task is at hand. To be honest, I was beginning to lose my enthusiasm with some of this work and didn’t think it fair to start slacking off, pushing the burden of work on other commissioners. With that attitude, I figured it was time to go.

With all that said, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and, even though I’ll have one more column before the new year, have a Happy New Year too!