Simply put, I'm thankful to be alive.

It isn't unusual to reflect after a near-death experience. Of course, I am most appreciative to all involved with me being here today. As a result, my thankfulness overflows this year.

A few weeks ago, Dr. Thomas Steffens recognized my symptoms as a cardiac problem and rushed me to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

The emergency room doctor and cardiologist, who agreed with Thomas, also have my thanks, along with my balloonist, Dr. Susan Alexander who placed the stent and all of the nurses who poked me every four hours or so to take blood.

On a broader scale, I am blessed with a gaggle of loving family and herds great friends. You, my readers, are considered among the friends.

My contemplations begin now at this stage of my life, 64 years, 5 months. However, they originate in my youth. I remember living on a houseboat at the shore of the Columbia River with my mother and the man who was my father.

My father was a commercial fisherman and there is a photo of me holding a large steelhead that was pulled from his net. He was also a hunter, and my first hunting memories are of him carrying me on his shoulders while hunting geese near Corvallis.

At this time we were living in a house near a river. Once three of us, all neighbors, were playing near the river. Two of us were in the 4-to-5-year-old range and the other was a year or two older.

The older boy became mad at the younger boy and pushed him in the river. I remember watching him struggle in the water and finally go under. The other boy wouldn't let me reach out him and threatened me to keep quiet or he would do the same to me.

I remember watching the same river overflow its banks one spring. We were evacuated by wading through water knee-deep.

Next, we were living upstairs in a small apartment in downtown Portland. My  my father had a tendency to stop at a local tavern on the way home after receiving his paycheck.

More often than not, he arrived home with very little money left in his pocket. Consequently, we were poor. Mom tells the story about not having any food and feeding me a flour and water mixture, because she didn't have anything else.

There was also an abusive side to this relationship, as I remember him slapping me across the face when I yelled at him to stop hitting Mom.

My sister Denise, who is four years younger than me, was now a part of the family. I'm sure Mom worried about us. Nadine Driggs, my mother's sister, arrived one day and whisked us to Moses Lake to live with her and her family; husband, Delbert and children Sammy, Janice and Cheryl. Uncle Delbert told my father over the phone to not come after us and to leave us alone. We never heard from him again.

Although not all of my early years were pleasant, they are a part of the foundation of who I am today. A few years later, Mom fell in love with Max Clay. He adopted Denise and me and became a father and Dad to both of us. Dad completed my character foundation and I am thankful for his guidance during my school years and into adulthood.

Nine years in the Army, and one year in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot, provided more character building. I enjoyed military life, but not all of the duties or necessary actions required in a hostile and adverse arena.

Again, the years spent in service to our country, helped shape my identity ... the person who I am today. This military involvement cannot be discarded as entirely evil, but, rather, I consider it educational.

The 25 years spent helping people find jobs was rewarding, especially working with disabled veterans. Putting ink to paper began as a surprise, as I didn't know such would ever be a part of my life.

The outdoors column developed into three other weekly columns; Bits & Pieces, the gardening column, and the weekly hunting and fishing report.

A month or two after the column began appearing in the Columbia Basin Herald, manager  at KBSN called and asked me to produce and host a radio show.

"Look, you are writing a weekly outdoors column,  so why not create a weekly outdoor radio show?" he asked.

The two-part show, "Columbia Basin Outdoors," was taped and aired on Thursday and Friday mornings for a few years. The show has evolved into a two-hour live show, "Columbia Basin Lifestyles," on Saturday mornings.

Today, I am enjoying my time in the Great Outdoors. But, even more important, is helping others discover the value of taking day trips to go camping, hunting, and bird watching. Fishing is also very rewarding and a necessary part of my life.

None of us know how much time we have left on this earth. I intend to make good use of every minute. I am indeed blessed. I am thankful for everything that has happened in my life; past, present and future.