There’s something about old outdoor magazines I love. Perhaps I’m hopelessly nostalgic.
I recently, by chance, went to an estate sale with my son and one of my brothers. Stepping through the kitchen to get to the back rooms made me feel like a time traveler and I found myself questioning, who was the previous owner? The answer was in the office. A stack of small magazines from the 50’s and 60’s called Arizona Outdoor Sportsman; and Dale Slocum, the owner, had been the field editor.
Reading the December 1957 issue, I was immediately taken by a story of five men, long time friends, who decided they would float the Colorado River from Mexican Hat, Utah, to Lee’s Ferry, Arizona (prior to the building of the Glen Canyon Dam). What’s amazing is that each would use a raft of their own construction - three inner tubes lashed together, with a nine-foot board for a seat.
Adventure to these five friends was not about having high-tech equipment. They simply used what they had at hand and were not afraid of the unknown; rather, they looked at the unknown with anticipation and excitement. Pure adventure!
It makes me think of my dad’s Scottsdale business landlord of many years, Carson Floyd, a former Kansas farmer. My brothers and I were young. Mr. Floyd would open the front door and say jokingly, ‘Boys, let’s do something! even if it’s wrong!’ It was his funny way of saying, ‘Boys, don’t be lazy, make decisions, and forge ahead.’
Fear can be a stifling thing and it will rob us of enjoying the simplest of blessings. So this Fall, don’t just sit around. Count your blessings. Be determined, make decisions, learn from the outcome, and forge ahead!