Many Field Junkies are familiar with Alan Jackson’s classic “Summertime Blues”. All of us can relate to the pain the 17 year old felt to have a summer vacation and have it ruined by work. Sitting inside on gorgeous summer days is like prison to the outdoors enthusiast. While I’m dreaming of fishing, planting food plots, playing golf, or just relaxing in the summer sun, I’m stuck inside staring at a computer screen. The older I get, the more I’m convinced that bills are devils that are best avoided. Here are a few solutions I’ve come up with to avoid the summertime blues:
- Ditch the rat race and live off the land:
Most of us read about sustenance and survival tactics in our monthly editions of Field and Stream. Let’s put that knowledge to use. The way I see it, I could throw in my two weeks and start accumulating supplies. I’ll practice how to build fires, load up on bug spray, learn how to tie good knots, and figure out which plants I could eat. This cure of avoiding bills is to just ignore them altogether. The grand hiccup with this plan is that my girlfriend and dogs wouldn’t have anything to do with me after I went off “the deep-end”. Back to the drawing board.
- Load up on sick days
Luckily, for me I get a gracious amount of sick days each year. If I could discipline myself during the winter, I could take off almost every Friday during the summer. Doing this would add an extra 24 hours per week of outdoor time to my schedule. This would be great, but the actual chances of being sick for 19 Fridays in a row are pretty slim. And the chances of actually being believed those 19 times are even slimmer. I’d say after week 3, I would have a great lecture waiting for me the following Monday. Back to the drawing board.
- Get a job outside
Simple enough solution, if I like being outside, I should work outside. I feel like this would be even greater torture than sitting in a cubicle. During high school and college I worked construction, mowed lawns, did odd jobs, and worked at a nursery. After sweating and working in the 90 degree heat each day I wanted to get home and enjoy some A/C for a while. The problem with my outdoor jobs, is that I wasn’t able to enjoy the outdoors. Summertime blues again, back to the drawing board.
- Start a job outside
The ultimate job would be to start a company or service that would allow me to make a living by enjoying the outdoors with others. I’ve dreamed of cashing out my retirement account and moving to Cabo San Lucas and buying a fishing boat. I would direct the seas and help people from across the world catch Marlin, Tuna, Sailfish and other exotic fish. My life would be awesome. My girlfriend told me I could move as long as there are Saddlebred horses in the new city. After some extensive Googling, I can’t find a Saddlebred arena within 500 miles of Cabo. I don’t know if the Mexican water would be good for my lab Huckleberry, either. I would also have to learn Spanish. These are three pretty big road blocks in my journey. Back to the drawing board again.
- Be an Agent
I’m not talking about calling LeBron James. I mean that I could find some crazy disease where the mere sight of me made my co-workers want to run in the other direction. I’m going to start an intense search on WebMD.com to find an infectious by non-life threatening airborne disease that would make any company not want me close to the building. I wouldn’t be fired, as I would still work, just from home. The definition of home may change daily, from the farm, to the lake, to the campsite. That’s right, I’ll get an air card and screen filter and I’ll work from anywhere. Now, if I could only find that disease and get a doctor’s note….
I’ve had a lot of thoughts that I’m not proud of on my way to brainstorm a few ways to cure the summertime blues. Some of those thoughts were shared in this post. I guess there is no true way to turn off the work clock and enjoy the outdoors. At the end of the day, lifestyle design is the ultimate solution. Finding a way to pay the bills that affords the most time to enjoy your life is anyone’s ultimate goal. If you do nothing but slave in an office for decades, what is the true purpose? You are only delaying the gifts that God has provided outside of the workplace. Feel blessed to provide for your family, but don’t neglect your own mortality. Whatever your passion, it is important to enjoy life before life is gone or before you are unable to enjoy it.
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