Things I am thankful for

I’m thankful for things both large and small -- the sun which warms me while I sit hunkered in the sagebrush waiting for that buck to show himself, and my family which keeps growing larger.

I’m thankful for the birds I missed that will be there tomorrow and for the one I hit that will feed me tonight.

I’m thankful to live in Montana where there remains country wild enough to swallow me up if I’m not careful, where the water and air are pure and sustain the wildest of life, and the climate is still extreme enough to keep out the riff-raff.

The strife and turmoil that embroil much of the world seems very far away in a state where our biggest fights are over bison, grizzly bears, and sage grouse.

In an increasingly crowded world, I’m thankful for the space we have here, the miles of empty roads and all the seldom-walked trails.

I’m thankful to have seen Montana before the advent of the four-wheeler, when folks still rode horses into the mountains. But I’m also thankful for Montana today where folks still care passionately about the land, and where there seems to be a brewery in even the smallest towns.

I’m thankful for the rainbow trout that rises out of the green depths of the Yellowstone River to eat my fly, and for the largemouth bass that does the same in a small pond on the treeless prairie. They both put a bow in my rod and a smile on my face.

I’m thankful for my boats and the water that floats them. In a state where winning the lottery means drawing a Smith River permit, paddlers, floaters and motor-boaters have a wealth of options, the Stillwater, the wild and scenic Missouri, and Fort Peck Lake among them.

But it’s no fun to go it alone and I’m very thankful for my friends, old and new, near and far. Some I hunt with and some I fish with, some I just visit with on rare occasions. Heck, I’m even thankful for some of my facebook friends.

And I’m very thankful for my lovely wife who tolerates my behavior.

Most of all I suppose I’m just thankful to still be here. It’s been a wild ride and while I’ve lost a stirrup or two at times I’ve never completely lost my seat. I’m hanging on as tightly as ever.

And hey, thank you for reading.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Parker Heinlein is at

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