OUTDOORS: Maybe by next Christmas, I'll be fully into winter activities

You know the old saying "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"? I was actually considering putting that saying to use for myself who it comes to the winter months.

See, truth be told, I hate winter. So, I suppose the question could be posed: Then why do you live in Montana? The answer to that is, it's a love-hate thing. I love Montana and almost everything about being a Montanan, except for winter. And by winter, I mean those two or three months where it really is winter.

The rest of the time in Montana, I love it. So, the good outweighs the bad.

Still, there was a time recently when, I really started leaning towards getting in on the fun that most Montanans already enjoy, the fun of being in the Montana outdoors in the winter.

That's right, I have never enjoyed what Montana has to offer in the winter. I don't ski, snowboard, snowmobile, sled, snowshoe, ice fish, ice sculpt or pretty much have anything to do with anything that could be classified as a fun winter activity.

You want to know what I do in the winter? I shovel and snowplow my sidewalks and driveway. That is my winter, to keep all the pavement I own from having any ice or snow on it. I pride myself on it. I'm actually obsessed with it, and I will shovel, snow blow and sweep my property any time, day or night, in order to keep it that way.

That, my friends, is the extent of my winter in the outdoors.

Lately, though, I've become increasingly open to changing that. And it's because I love the outdoors too much to let three or four months go by without being out in it. Yes, my love of hiking, another obsession really, has pushed me closer and closer to getting into the outdoors in the winter, too.

So what will I do?

First on the list is to start visiting Glacier and Yellowstone in wintertime. It may be different, but I need to see two of my favorite places in the world year-round. So, I imagine, we'll eventually do some cross country skiing, snowshoeing and hiking in the two great parks.

Further down the road, it may be time to finally learn how to snowboard. I've never wanted to ski, but I have, I admit, wanted to learn how to snowboard. It just looks like a blast, and if I'm going to be sliding down on a mountain in cold, deep snow, I better at least be having fun, and snowboarding has always looked like a lot of fun to me.

I would already be hankering to do these things now, except there's that pesky pandemic that keeps getting in the way. Call me cautious or paranoid or whatever, it's OK, but right now, I don't think, is the right time for me to start visiting ski resorts. Just a hunch, but, they probably won't be very COVID safe this winter, no matter how hard they try, and I know they will try, but I just don't have a good feeling about it.

So, my desire to start shredding the slopes on a snowboard will have to wait and, in all honesty, what's one more winter? I've been sitting out 45 winters already, so I don't think one more will be too bad.

Still, I am feeling more and more ready to take the plunge so to speak. I am feeling more comfortable with the idea of being outdoors in the middle of a mean old Montana winter. And since I've already spent 45 years avoiding it, I do feel like the clock is ticking on my chance to make up for lost time. Shoot, I even imagine someday spending Christmas or New Year's or other wintertime holidays in a cabin or at the famed Isaac Walton Inn, or at Big Sky. It does sound appealing.

For this Christmas, though, I'll just have to spend it hunkered down in my own home, only thinking about the things I've mentioned above. But, as my wife can attest, when an idea like wanting to finally embrace winter in Montana takes hold, I get pretty determined and pretty dedicated to making it happen. And I get pretty envious of those of you who are already doing what I'm only pondering doing.

So, Merry Christmas to all of you, whether you truly embrace the Montana outdoors in the wintertime or not. But, to those of you who do, maybe by next Christmas, I'll be writing a column detailing what I'm doing outdoors in the winter, rather than writing one detailing what I am thinking about doing.