As I noted in my last column, the holiday season is not very easy on your average outdoors enthusiast. There is a pressure to conform in terms of gift giving, and now – as we approach the new year – with resolutions as well.

Like many of you, I have always found New Year’s resolutions difficult to make and keep. That is not to say that I take these things lightly though. The problem with my resolutions is that, while they may seem meaningful and noble to me, they are not necessarily that to the people around me.  Sometimes, for inexplicable reasons too.

Take last year’s resolution, which was meant to address concerns from my partner Jenn.

She had spent the previous fall complaining that my early morning duck calling was horrible. And while I didn’t think so, I thought perhaps the best thing I could do to ease her concerns was to get better at it. You know, meet her lofty standard of what good duck calling sounds like.

As I have often said, I am nothing if not a romantic.

That’s why I was proud of myself at the end of last January. For up to that point, I had kept my resolution to practice duck calling in the house every morning. And, not to brag, but I had perfected it.

Jenn thought so too, because one day at one of my “quack of dawn” sessions, I asked Jenn if I needed much more practice. She just looked at me and yelled, “That’s enough!”  I would have said enthusiastically, but it’s hard to tell when a person is only half awake.

This left me resolution-free for almost 11 months, which gave me a lot of time to think about this year’s resolution.

Somewhere during that time, it occurred to me that Jenn always goes on about how she loves surprises.  Coincidentally, one of the things I vowed to do is utilize my camouflaged clothing a lot more.

Which is why I came up with my resolution for 2023. That being, surprise Jenn as much as possible through the judicious use of camouflage clothing.

I’m thinking this will be good for both of us.

If my past attempts at this are any indication, Jenn will immediately experience the health benefits that come from unexpected periods of elevated heart rates and involuntary standing broad jumps. And I will get way better at camouflaging myself, which will come in handy, during the 2023 hunting season as well as those times when she wants someone to rake the leaves with.

All this is to say that this resolution will benefit us both. And, if I can keep it up until the end of January, it will also be the longest I have ever kept a resolution.

Frankly, I’m excited about it.

I can hardly wait to see the look on Jenn’s face as I surprise her by jumping out from a snowbank or pile of leaves.  No doubt she’ll be happier after the infusion of these additional surprises in her life.

But, of course, this is a resolution so the question is, how long will it last? I can envision it lasting for quite a while, but I can’t speak for Jenn. I imagine, for her, it will go on until she has seen enough.