Fish Like a GIRL

It is interesting how life works out sometimes. This week, I knew I wanted to write about Thanksgiving, as it’s just around the corner. It’s an important time to me, and one that marks the beginning of the holiday season. It includes gun deer season. It is a time of celebration and also reflection.

What is funny is that I came back to the office at the Times, because I had some time between meetings I was covering. Some know, but perhaps some do not, that I am a freelance journalist for the Times now rather than an employee — a “stringer” as they say. That said, I do not spend a lot of time in the office these days. I am usually  out covering stories around the Northwoods, fishing, hunting, or hanging out at home writing. But I came back to the office today and am currently sitting in my old cubicle — at the same desk, with the same office chair that will randomly lower all the way down to the lowest height, no matter how many times you move it back up. 

The chair part cracks me up, but the rest of this really is a cause for reflection for me, and it makes me think about how much has changed — and yet how much is still the same underneath. First of all, the cubicle wall where I used to have the maps of Lake Minocqua and Lake Tomahawk hanging is now full of Taylor Swift — which is weird, but I digress.

My first thought was about the mornings while my late husband Rod was sick. I was usually the first to the office, before he got so sick that I had to work from home  or the hospital. I might be sitting on the floor writing a story, or organizing the stories for my section, getting them ready for, at the time, Emily Koester, who was our editor. Heather Holmes (Times general manager) would come in and usually sit on the floor, too, leaning up against the cubicle wall, to ask me how things were going. Or Danette (a former Times receptionist) would come back from the front office to hear about the latest with Rod. 

It was obviously a tough time in my life, and I had just started working at the Times about two months before Rod was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, but, looking back, I could not have asked for a better group of people to be around me and to support me. 

I was sitting here, in my old desk, thinking about how I got started, trying to remember what some of my first stories might have been about. It was October, so I am sure it was mostly hunting season stuff. 

Another one of the reasons I was thinking about the beginnings of all of this was that I have been asked to do a presentation at the Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention next March about how to find stories about water and how to convey some of the more technical side of those stories to the general public.

I suppose it is something that evolved organically, but I know the water side of things likely started with both Oneida and Vilas County’s land and water conservation departments. 

I have gotten to know the people from both departments pretty well over the years, but back then I was just some reporter who was asking questions. And I guess that is how it starts, and likely how my presentation at the conference will start.

I think a person needs to be curious and have a love of learning. I always want to know why and to learn more about just about any subject that comes my way. I have always been that way. That, I am sure, is part of the reason I love this career so much. It is also why I love the outdoors.

I feel like I am always learning when I am outdoors. I think most outdoors enthusiasts feel that way. For instance: fishing. Just when I feel like I know where the fish are and what they want — they move, or they get lock jaw, or something. I am usually not sure, but I know that how I catch them one day is likely not going to be how I catch them the next day. 

I also like to just walk along trails in the woods and check out animal tracks. Sometimes it is fairly easy to figure out the story, and other times I might not be sure why an animal walked through a certain area, or whether they were just passing through or chasing lunch. But, like anything, the more a person does either one of these things, the more apt they are to figure out the puzzle. 

But, at the end of the day, so many things are still the same.

Interestingly, I recently got to look through all of the historical odds and ends of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, as we are now in our 75th year. 

I was looking to write about the organization from a historical perspective, so I went down to the office and grabbed the totes of old Federation newspapers, called Wisconservation. The first one I opened was, I believe, from 1968 or 1970. At any rate, the first page was an advertisement. It said something to the effect that adult hunters needed to work hard to ensure hunting was still a viable outdoor pursuit for the next generation and generations to come. The photo was of an adult male hunter and a child perceived to be his son. An article a couple more pages in talked about the importance of clean water for fish and wildlife. Another talked about habitat, and how important that would be for waterfowl in years to come. The point is, as sportsmen and women, we are all still worried about the same things. We are all still trying to find ways to make outdoor pursuits relevant. We are all still worried about clean water, clean air, habitat restoration and all of the things that make up the incredible outdoor experiences we get to have in Wisconsin, especially in the Northwoods. 

Sitting here at my old desk, surrounded by a couple of the “old guard” as well as some “new homies,” it is fun to think about how far things have come. I am thankful for this career, and the home that I have found in it. I am thankful for all of those who have shared this space with me over the years, and I am thankful for those who are still around and those who still support my work. 

A decade ago, I would have never thought I would be where I am today — getting ready to make two presentations at one of my favorite conferences every year (the other presentation will be on creating the next generation of water stewards through teaching). 

So much has changed over the years since I fist sat in this chair… and there is still so much to learn.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].