... of woodsmoke and quiet places

... of woodsmoke and quiet places - Review

...of woodsmoke and quiet places

by Jerry Wilber
The Cabin Bookshelf, $25.95, hardback, 383 pages, ISBN 0965338118
Illustrations by Terry Maciej of Pengilly

When I was initially asked to do a review of ...of woodsmoke and quiet places I was a little hesitant. Now I know what you are thinking, "what kind of guy hesitates to read abou the enjoyments of fishing, camping and hunting?" Well, here goes, and I have a sneaking suspicion some of you will be familiar with my rationale.

First of all, I was deeply entangled within the claws of work. She had me good my friends, real good. She played with my head with greater ease than a drunken kitten with her ball of yarn.

Secondly, I had made a resolution to become a more committed triathlete. As a "middle of the road" competitor, I had decided that if I were going to continue with this insanity I had better improve my performance or simply forget it all together. If you are like me, and one of your guiding philosophies is why do something at all if you are only going to go about it halfassed, then I am sure you understand. Not only did this mean I was now eligible to become the new spokesman for Advil and Ace Bandages but that an increase of training hours on an already tight schedule was necessary.

And thirdly, there was "her." She captured my heart five years ago and has not seen fit to return it. My guess is that she will never let it go which, truthfully, is fine with me. She is, however, like many others requiring creels full of attention and affirmation of my feelings on a consistent basis. Although a first rate cuddler she tends to take too much of the bed and has a tendency to snore on occasion. She whines when I don't take her out as often as she'd like (which is quite a bit) and is, frankly, a high maintenance gal. But, like so many others, I am slave to her good looks, loyalty and ability to enrich the quality of my life tenfold simply by showing me in her own special way that she loves me. She is a handful, her name is Lexi, and she is my Labrador retriever. God bless her.

Now we have work, training for triathlons and her majesty. Three governing strains of madness that play me as only Jappeto could Pinocchio. I was taxed, and frankly had no time. But as someone who has difficulty declining requests for assistance, I eventually acquiesced and created a new space in my daytimer, which siply said, REVIEW. Review, to revisit, hmm. How telling that was I had no idea until I opened ...of woodsmoke and quiet places.

The very structure of ...of woodsmoke and quiet places is based on time. It is a collection of short anecdotes for each day of the calendar year -- primarily about fishing, hunting and camping. They are humorous, sad, heavy, light, poignant, reminiscent, hopeful and educational. They are about the appreciation we have for Mother Nature, the respect we feel for her creatures and the myriad of emotions we experience when we take one of her own from her. They are about the excitement we feel in anticipation of seeing a 10-point buck or netting our friend's first steelhead. They are about the souls of campfires and the camaraderie shared among camping buddies. They are about those who have walked with us through the woods numerous times only to have been taken away from us far too soon. They are about the unequaled love we have for our families, friends and our dogs. They are about all these things but perhaps most importantly; they are stories that remind us of what is truly essential in life. They remind us that the most valuable lessons we have learned came not from a professor in a classroom, but from our experiences in the great outdoors with classrooms of pheasant fields and streams, with the disciplines of hunting, fishing and camping, a faculty of dogs, trout, whitetail deer and campfires. This was the most striking quality of Wilber's book for me. Who among us can't say with sincere conviction that the lessons we learned while engaged within the aforementioned disciplines have far outweighed what was crammed into our heads by the formal schooling of youth?

Honestly, we learned a great deal during those excursions and, come to find out, we can still learn a great deal more. We learned the tenets of loyalty, courage and work ethic from our dogs quartering the fields. We gained an appreciation for precision and accuracy from the casts we made, and from our trout, the discipline of being slective. We understood the value of strength and consistency from the rivers we waded. We acquired the skill of trusting our instincts from the whitetail and were schooled in humility from the stars that embraced us as we sank to repose in our sleeping bags. We accomplished responsibility from carrying our guns, selfreliance from camping and learned that giving was more important than receiving from those who took the time to share their knowledge with us. We developed an appreciation for grace from the Hendrickson and a sense of selfcontrol from staying out in our deer stands far too long.

...of woodsmoke and quiet places is for most of us, and it is especially for those of us who have ashamedly allowed our priorities to become misshapen by the seductions of work and the pursuit of the dollar. It is for us who have awakened one morning and realized that we have substituted a furnace for campfires, a condo for tents and genuinely can't remember what the sky canvas of stars looked like on our last camping trip, nor the veil of warmth offered by the cedar campfires that nurtured us. It is for those of us who have somehow gotten lost and are in need of a sort of "review" of our own, a gentle reminder of our priorities.

If any of these symptoms ail you as they did me, I would recommend getting a copy of ...of woodsmoke and quiet places. After reading it you may have the urge to "go back to school" for a review, as I did. Wilber has done what I thought was nearly impossible. He has found a way to make the practice of going back to school more valuable, less costly and a whole hell of a lot more fun. If you decide to go this route, please remember that, although the faces of our teachers have changed considerably, the curricula altered substantially, and the classrooms less confining, one rule still applies: Keep quiet when class is in session. As for me, I'm on my way for a lesson right now, only this time I have substituted fly rod and open mind for pen and paper. See you in class. RWOL

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