It’s getting colder by the day.
Pretty soon there will be snow on the ground and it’ll be winter.
I’m just not a winter person. I don’t like the cold. I don’t like snow and I certainly don’t like having to go out in the cold to shovel snow off the driveway in order to go anywhere. No I think I’ll just stay indoors until the end of April – or maybe the beginning of May.
The Farmer’s Almanac is predicting a long, cold winter, and I’ve got plenty of things I can do indoors to help get through the next five long, cold, miserable months.
I like to read. So maybe I’ll get around to reading some of those old Zane Grey novels I inherited somewhere along the line and haven’t quite got around to opening. Most people don’t know Grey was quite the fisherman who wrote a number of books about fishing. He even has a Penn International reel named after him.
I know I won’t have to look too far for things I could do around the house.
I also like to do jigsaw puzzles. They free my mind up to think about other things while I’m sitting inside where it’s warm and comfortable.
Then there’s that bookshelf I had built and didn’t fit where I wanted to put it. I’d been meaning to put it in the bedroom where the television used to be, until I decided there isn’t anything worth watching on TV anymore, and dropped it off at the thrift store.
Read more: Column: Keeping those extremities warm in the winter
Read more: Column: Making life better in the Shuswap with birds
I really should start fly tying again. It’s been a couple of years now since I tied any flies. I used to find fly tying sort of therapeutic. And besides, there’s something quite special about catching a fish on a fly that you’ve tied yourself.
Of course, I could always head on down to the local tackle store and join the gang for coffee – even though I don’t actually drink coffee. I could partake in the time-honoured tradition of telling whopper fishing stories. I could lie my head off –none of them will question me, least-wise not to my face. They all have a mutual respect for the art of telling a good fishing story. It’s just that I don’t look forward to going out in the cold.
When my pension check comes in I suppose I have to go out at least once to buy myself some long underwear to get me through the winter. While I’m out, I should probably go over to the marina and look at last year’s stock of 12-foot aluminum fishing boats to see if they’ve got any deals. Not that I will need one before spring, but it won’t hurt to look.
One thing I know for sure that I’m going to do come next fishing season is spend more time just sitting out there in my boat, enjoying the warmth of the sun. The way I figure it, if I sit long enough in the warm sun I can absorb enough sunlight to get me through the winter – just like the lizards do.