Winter Workouts – Snowshoeing, Try it!

Tired of having to workout indoors in this cold, wintery weather? February is a tough month for those that live in the snow states; by now even the most avid snow lovers are wishing for warmer days and itching to get back to their favorite outdoor workouts.  For me, snowshoeing is my saving grace.  As long as it’s not blizzard conditions, there is nothing like the peace and solitude of the woods on a crisp winter day.  Never tried snowshoeing before? The workout you get is phenomenal for your core, legs and gluts.  The best part is: you hardly notice it!

For those that may be new to snowshoeing, you are basically strapping on what look to be new-fangled tennis rackets to your feet, as you shuffle along the snow.  Many people I’ve spoken to about it seem to think you either a) have to pick up your feet and trudge through the snow, or b) stay on top of the snow totally.  Neither of these notions are really accurate; I’d describe it as a shuffle through the snow, ideal for those that want low impact to the knees and joints but a great cardio workout.

What do you need to snowshoe? Not much really.. the only real requirement is the snowshoes themselves. I choose to use a pair of well-insulated hiking boots (I love my Merrells..) that work really well with my bindings.  Since I’ve been doing it for a while now, I don’t always need the trekking poles, but if you are thinking of anything other than flat terrain, you will want some poles. Telescoping poles can be found at sporting good shops and even some of the catch-all stores like Big Lots.

As is the case any time you head into the woods, make sure you have a compass if you are in an unfamiliar area and certainly let someone else know where you will be going if you will be snowshoeing alone.  Lastly, you won’t want to forget your camera; snowshoes allow you to explore areas that would be difficult to access in the warm weather months and allow you a whole new vantage point.

So don’t just sit inside dreading the snow and cold weather; it will gone soon enough.  For now, make the most of it and get some good aerobic exercise while nurturing your soul out in the beauty of the winter woods.

A Womans Perspective on Hunting and Fishing

If you’re an avid hunter or fisherman who happens to be a single guy, chances are, you’ve never given a second thought to what the modern day female perspective is on the whole “hunter/gatherer” thing or the increase in women hunters. That’s fine. If you’re a married sportsman, chances are you’ve heard just about all you care to hear as far as your spouse’s opinion goes. Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who have a wife that actually scours the internet and combs cookbooks in search of recipes for venison and wild game. If not, odds are pretty good that when you bring home a trophy buck, you hear things like “just don’t hang it in a tree where the neighbors can see it” and “no, I’m not coming out into the garage to oogle over you murdering a beautiful defenseless animal, no matter how many points he has on his head”. Remember, women hunters and women anglers are on the rise and your wife may turn out to be your best hunting or fishing buddy!

So while it may seem like there are two distinct camps of women; those ‘for’ and ‘against’ hunting and even fishing, I’m here to tell you there is yet a third type of woman out there.. the hybrid female. I consider myself a ‘hybrid’ when it comes to hunting and fishing season. Now before I go any further, let me first state that ‘yes, I have in fact gone hunting’ and ‘yes, I do love to fish’. When conducted in a sportsman-like manner, I can tolerate hunting; do I love the idea? No. But when I say ‘sportsman-like’, I mean, without the use of bait or dogs, without being outfitted with every advantage Dicks’ Sporting Goods and Cabella’s has to offer. Have you noticed that many of these super stores now have separate sections for women hunters? Any woman, if equipped with the patience to hear a man’s rationale on why they hunt, has the ability to empathize with the fact that there is a season on deer to prevent over population and to promote healthier herds. When you speak in terms of ‘positives’, we women can accept the fact that you want to go sit in a tree at the crack of dawn and wait for an animal that is depicted as tame and beautiful to come walking down the trail so you can put food on the family table.

What we are incapable of understanding are those hunters (I keep referring to men, when in fact there are plenty of very successful, well known female hunters out there, so excuse me if I’m being stereotypical) who hunt, and essentially, to use a harsher word, KILL, for the mere fun of the sport. Women, being nurturing, emotional souls, cannot agree with the idea of killing something, no matter if it be as small as a squirrel, just ‘for the fun of it’. There is an ecological balance to our planet and if we were meant to kill things for fun, we all would have been born with gun barrels on the tips of our fingers. I know there are many people that feel this way; not just women, so if you get anything at all out of this article, please only harvest what you will consume and/or use. If we could think like the primitive Native Americans, where no part of a deer or buffalo was wasted, we could probably do some good in the way of living greener as well, finding alternate uses for ALL parts of a creature that sacrificed its life to provide sustenance for you and your family.

The same mentality goes for fishing; while I know there are “plenty of fish in the sea”, it seems some sportsmen don’t feel the need to abide by catch limits or seasons on certain game fish. These rules all came to exist for a reason; to preserve the species, while allowing us to experience the thrill of the catch and enjoy the bounties of the ocean. I’ve been on chartered boats where people seem to think it’s all about how many coolers they fill to bring home and brag about. For me, and I’m sure for other women hunters or women anglers, it’s the thrill of the fight and finally, after a particularly tough battle with a big fish, bringing him to the surface and taking your photographs. Depending on the fish, I’m just as happy to let him go and see him swim away as I am to serve him up for dinner. It’s the personal challenge and satisfaction that will remain preserved in my photo album that I find satisfying, versus seeing an animal mounted on the wall.

So while hunters and fishermen (I feel like I should use fisher-people here) come in all shapes, sizes and genders, the main thing, from a woman’s perspective, is respect. Respect the environment, respect your fellow man and the various feelings they may have about your hobby, and don’t forget to pause a moment and respect the animal that you choose to harvest. Women hunters and women anglers are no different from the male counterparts, except that we maybe look a bit better in Cammo!

Tips to Enhance Environmental Conciousness

The Waves of Environmental Consciousness

With all the talk about conserving our natural resources and supporting conservation efforts around the globe, you may be sitting at  home and wondering ‘well what can I do?’, thinking that one person or household could not possibly make a noticeable impact.  Think again.  Conservation efforts go far beyond reforestation and wildlife preserves.  There are so many ways that we as individuals can make a dramatic impact (albeit over time) in the way we choose to live.  Making the conscious effort to reduce, reuse and recycle has become a lifestyle for my family and while the thought may seem overwhelming at first, you can start out small and gradually build upon what you do, even getting younger members of the family involved.

Being a single mom of two children, ages 5 and 8, our endeavor to be a bit more green began a few years ago when we spent much of our time living in Vermont.  Having a large parcel of land allowed us to cultivate flower gardens, a vegetable and herb garden, and various berry bushes.   Rather than spend all sorts of money on fertilizers, we got into the habit of composting anything and everything that didn’t have a shell.  The only other precautions to take if you are going to compost on a ‘small’ scale is not to put any meat or anything with seeds into your compost bin; the seeds will sprout before you know it and the whole batch will have a longer break-down time, giving you plants where you probably didn’t intend them to grow.   When composting, there isn’t even a need to spend a lot of money and buy one of those big heavy-duty barrels you crank to turn your batch over.  We found it was just as effective to collect our compost in a bin on the counter and make a daily trip out to the barn where we kept a metal garbage can for all the scraps, using a shovel to turn the compost every week or so.  As you go through this process, you’ll get satisfaction in seeing the rich, dark, nutrient-rich soil turn up from the bottom, ready to be spread in your flower beds and garden.

Although Earth Day has come and gone, there are still plenty of things you can do throughout the rest of this year to reduce the waste that is either dumped into our landfills or incinerated only to go into our atmosphere.  Think of all the plastic containers your household discards over the course of just one week, let alone the countless amounts you will go through in an entire month or year.  Instead of tossing these containers into the trash can,  take the few extra moments to rinse them and set aside for recycling.  If you live in an area where recycling is not picked up curbside, there are plenty of ways to reuse many of these items.  For instance, haven’t we all, at some point, purchased plastic storage containers from the market or local box store?  Not to say that Rubbermaid containers aren’t great, but when you are working to reduce the amount of non-biodegradables you toss in the trash, think about how you can refill your water bottles, return your soft drink cans for the deposit (don’t throw them away; it adds up!), save the yogurt containers for art projects with the kids or to use as snack cups for them (I put everything from trail mix to fruit in them; just the right size for small hands to carry around while keeping portion control in mind).  In my house, we reuse everything from paper towel tubes (good for art projects or an easy storage solution for all those plastic shopping bags that accumulate; just shove them in the tube and you have your own ‘free’ dispenser for them!) If you are someone that already returns your bottles and cans in order to get your five cent deposit back, consider the additional value that sits right on top of those cans; did you know that by pulling the pop-top tab off the can and saving them, you can turn them into your local hospital or renal dialysis center for an important cause. 

**because of the importance of issues such as what has been discussed in this blog post, we have decided to continue this article in installments so we can address the issues discussed more fully and because we realize the average blog reader’s attention span is limited! We will continue to post installments to this post frequently.