Reel Country Co

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve disappeared to lately… well, the short answer is life happened.

The long answer is that just about every area of my life decided to get busy all at once.

Graduate school is officially in full swing, and somehow I’m already at the midpoint of the semester. I don’t know how that happened. It feels like classes just started, but here we are, writing papers, completing projects, and trying to stay ahead of deadlines. Thankfully, I’m really enjoying it, even if it occasionally eats up an entire weekend.

On top of school, I made a pretty big career change.

I accepted a position as a special education teacher!

As excited as I am to start this new chapter, it’s made for a hectic transition. My current job has also been unusually busy. Mental health is unpredictable on a good day, and if you’ve ever spent time in Kentucky during an extreme heat wave, you know people generally aren’t at their best. Put those two things together, and work has definitely kept me on my toes. My last day is Wednesday, so right now I’m counting down the final few days before starting my new adventure.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, I managed to make it to Becoming an Outdoors Woman.

If you’ve never heard of BOW, it’s one of my favorite events every year. It’s a weekend full of learning outdoor skills, meeting some incredible people, and spending time with women who love the outdoors just as much as I do. I came home tired, happy, and with even more ideas for things I want to try.

Speaking of the outdoors…

Apparently I’ve decided this is the year I get much more serious about camping, hunting, and fishing. I’ve collected a whole bunch of new gear lately, including camping equipment, hunting gear, and more fishing supplies than I probably needed. I’ve been slowly putting together a setup that will let me spend more time outside without feeling like I’m improvising half of it once I get there.

I’ve also been making a lot of plans for winter squirrel hunting once the weather cools down. There’s something about sitting in the woods on a cold morning that sounds better and better to me, especially after this stretch of Kentucky heat. I’m also planning to do some winter camping, so I’ve been thinking through everything from sleeping gear and heat to cooking and what I’ll realistically need to stay comfortable.

There will still be plenty of fishing mixed in too. That’s never going anywhere. I’ve been adding to my fishing setup and thinking about where I want to go once life settles down enough for me to actually get back near the water.

Reel Country has been quieter online, but it hasn’t been completely neglected.

I’ve been testing a few new product ideas, including chatterbait keychains. Chatterbaits are already one of my personal favorite lures, and they work surprisingly well as keychains. I love the overall shape, and the blade gives them a little movement and rattle that makes them a great fidget too. I’ve carried one around myself, and I keep messing with it, which feels like a good sign.

I’ve also been making earrings out of Rooster Tails. They come in so many colors and patterns that they give me a lot to work with, and they make really fun earrings. I’m still testing them and figuring out what I want to offer, but I’m happy with how the prototypes are turning out.

That’s part of what I enjoy about Reel Country. I can get an idea, make a few versions, carry them around, show them to people, and figure out whether they actually work before I commit to putting them in the shop.

So that’s where I’ve been lately: graduate school, a new teaching job, a chaotic final stretch in mental health, BOW, an ever-growing pile of outdoor gear, winter hunting and camping plans, and a few new Reel Country experiments.

Life has been a lot, but most of it has been good. I’m hoping that once I get through this job transition and settle into teaching, I’ll be able to find a little more rhythm again.

For now, thanks for pulling up a chair and sticking around while I’ve been quiet.

— Laura