Refuge Notebook
Article
Dated January
9, 2004
"Get out on the Refuge to beat those winter blues. "
By Doug Newbould
My dad has a lot of those sayings, you know the ones that
make you smile, or grimace or laugh out loud. When I hear someone else speak one
of his phrases, it’s like I only hear his voice. It doesn’t mean anything
coming out of their mouths. One of his Ronisms, as my wife so fondly calls them,
is “I need to get up there and reejoovinate my bawdy!” Another one
of a similar nature is, “It’s time to head up to God’s Country!”
To
really appreciate these Ronisms, you need a little more information. First, you
need to have a mental picture of my dad. He’s a big man, not big like me
(6’2” and 220). No, he’s a lot bigger – like 6’2”
and 350. And it isn’t all fat. He’s a large-boned, Illinois sandy
clay loam, corn-fed kind of Big. In Texas, he’s a natural Bubba. In Alaska,
I’ll bet there are some pretty big bruins that would head the other way
when he gave them “the Newbould stare”. You scoff, but until you’ve
withered under that steely gaze, you have no idea. The first time my soon-to-be-wife
ran into “the stare”, well, it was the first time I ever saw her go
speechless.
The second thing you need to know about my dad is the size of
his heart. He has a great - big -heart. Not big like a Himalayan Sherpa’s
– made mighty by extreme exertion. But the other kind of big, as in a large
capacity for life and to love. Now that you think I’ve gone all sentimental
on you and you’ve either swallowed the hook or darted under the cutbank,
I’m going to share one other thing about my dad.
You see, he loves
the outdoors, in all its forms – rugged or pastoral, majestic or cultivated,
untrammeled or manicured, sweating or shivering, working or playing - it doesn’t
matter. To my dad, it’s where we all came from and it’s where we’re
all going. It’s where we belong: outside. So if you are wondering why you
are so tired and rundown and you can’t sleep or you can’t wake up.
Duh!!! It’s because you’re cooped up like a pig in a hogbarn, eating
and sleeping, sleeping and eating.
Come on, let’s go. Hop on those
skis, slap on those bear paws, pack up that survival kit. The Refuge is calling
you. The doctor is out. Alaska awaits. It’s time to head out to God’s
Country and get reejooovinated! _____________________________________________________
Doug Newbould is the Fire Management Officer at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
For more information about the Refuge - visit headquarters in Soldotna, call (907)
262-7021, or visit our website at http://kenai.fws.gov
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