I am back blogging away…

…sort of.

© By Othmar Vohringer

Over Christmas and the New Year I took a short hiatus from blogging due to family and work commitments but also in the hope that I would be able to catch up on some of my writing. But it all came out very different as it often does.

It all started off when I got a rather nasty cold just before Christmas. Not paying any attention to it, trusting my strong immune system and the past experience that all of my colds never lasted any longer than a few days, I kept on plugging away at work every day. Being Christmas and we did a lot of overtime, on some days we worked up to 15 and 16 hours per day. As the days progressed my cold got worse and each day became a chore just to get out of bed and at night I came home falling asleep on the dinner table.

Still despite the cold I enjoyed Christmas at work, home and with good friends. Heidi has written a nice article about the festive events on her blog. Finally New Year rolled around and by that time I felt like a zombie. Perhaps, so I thought, it would be wise to seek medical advise and so went to see a doctor yesterday. Not a day to late, the doctor told me, I had the beginning stages of pneumonia. Yesterday I took some rather strong medicine the doctor prescribed me, and this morning I felt for the first time like someone has pulled the knife out of my lungs.

The lessons I earned from that experience is that perhaps it is not wise to work that many hours each day with a cold and that in future I should go to a doctor before it gets that far. Although I have a strong immune system I am also getting older and over the decades cold viruses have morphed into something very different and nastier than my immune system is used to deal with.

Thank you to all my fellow bloggers that sent me get well soon messages by email. I really appreciate that very much.

But enough about me. A new Year is here and I look full of confidence ahead into a new and exiting year full of positive events.

Talking about events, after the Outdoor Blogger Summit had to cancel our first event there where some voices heard pronouncing the end of the OBS. Let me assure you the OBS is far from crumbling. Quite the opposite, the founding members are as committed as ever to the mission of the OBS and so are the many supporters. I am not at liberty to give away too much here, not yet anyway. But there are great things heading your way for 2008. To stay abreast of what the OBS has in store for you keep regularly checking the OBS blog for the latest announcements as they become available.

During the Charismas holydays I made some great new connections and got to see many new books and products that I will showcase here during the next few weeks and months. One of the new connections I made is very near and dear to my hart and I hope that in the future I have the opportunity to get much more involved.
Hunters Helping Kids Inc. has approached me and asked if I could help them spread the word about their organization. In the future you will read a lot more, and regularly, about this outstanding example of hunter charity here on this blog. As the regular readers know I am committed to the future of hunting and it all begins with getting our children and their friends involved.

Heirloom turkey Calls has contacted me with news of new and exiting addition the their turkey call lineup. As of this writing I am waiting for more specific detail and pictures.

News reached me that J.R. Absher has given his very popular website The Outdoor Pressroom a new home and a new design. J.R. Absher provides outdoor writers and hunters since 1999 with the best resource for the latest news and happenings in the outdoors from around the world. For many writers The Outdoor Pressroom is the first and a regular check station to find information. No small task to keep posting daily the latest news. Thanks J.R. and congratulations on a new and easy to navigate site.

And finally, I have added a new blog to my network. My Wild Outdoor Kitchen is dedicated to aid hunters and fishers in turning game and fish into delicious and nutritious table fare. On my Master Butchers Choice website I get inundated with requests from hunters and other folks on how to prepare, store and cook wild game. But also on things like sausage making, spice and seasonings even how to grow your own organic vegetables and livestock.

In all of these queries one aspect of food comes through very clear and loud. People are getting fed up with mass produced-chemical-pesticides-hormone-saturated and genetically-altered-foods that at best has no taste and nutritional value whatsoever and at worst are a heath hazard for humans. It is no wonder then that people once more look to nature to provide them with healthy wholesome food. My Wild Outdoor Kitchen is in direct response to this new trend.

As of this writing there is not much on the new blog but that will change day by day. If you like to eat good food, or wondered how to improve your wild game dishes and what nature has to offer us on edible plants and herbs besides wild game and fish then you should bookmark My Wild Outdoor Kitchen and if it is only to have a peek at all the recipes that soon will be available.

Since I have been a good boy all year long, at least I would like to think so. Father Christmas, in form of my brother-in-law, has given me the best present any hunter could wish for.
Since the day I lost my Bowie-Knife many years ago I wanted desperatly another knife kike it again. Without knowing about it my brother-in-law presented me this year with this most cherished gifts of all. The Böker Knife with real stag antler handle is very traditional in Switzerland. We celebrate boys ages with different traditional gifts.

At the age of six years a boy will get a Swiss Army knife. At the age of ten a Bowie-Knife with stag antler handle. At the age of 15 it’s a .22 caliber rifle and at the age of maturity a Rolex watch. So when I lost my original Bowie Knife that has been with me daily, hanging from my belt, for over 30 years I was quite upset. Sure I could have gone out and purchased a new one but according to our tradition that is not the same as getting such a knife as a present from a special person such as an older brother, father or as in this case a thoughtful brother-in-law.