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There's an old saying that our kids keep us young. Regarding that statement, you'll certainly get no disagreement from me. My boys are at a pretty neat time of their lives, balancing school and pre-school with all sorts of fun outdoor activities. Short of downhill and water skiing (after undergoing multiple hamstring re-attachment surgeries, my surgeon strongly advises against it), I do enjoy the challenge in attempting to keep up with them and their innumerable outdoor pursuits.

Without kids, would I really pick up my skates and hockey stick with any regularity? Probably not. When given a choice, I really don't care if the boys choose to go skiing or skating over ice fishing. When you're a kid, you're too young to specialize. Doing any one thing too often can quickly lose its luster and appeal. Variety is the name of the game and when you're young, many skills, such as skiing and skating, come fairly easy.

Anders, our eight-year-old, has been skiing now for six years and is scary-good, in my humble opinion. This is his third year of competitive racing on the Wild Mountain D-Team. He'll get better - and faster - as the years pass, but he's already operating at an exceedingly high level on the slopes. Anders' younger brother, Augie, isn't too far behind and he's only five.

I'm trying to remember what I was doing when I was five. I don't think I was a very skilled five-year-old. I do remember my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Conzet, shaking her head disappointedly as she told my folks during an emergency conference that I was slow to catch on to anything the other kids were learning. I do remember that much.

Today, I'm looking forward to the time when my wife drops the boys off at my work after lunch. We'll hit the Chisago rink with our sticks and pucks and skate for a couple of hours. The ice sheet always looks great, so if any of you Chisago City worker guys are reading this, a tip of the wool cap to you. Nice job maintaining that rink.

As far as ice fishing goes this season, December was sort of a funny month. If given a choice myself between hitting a lake for panfish and skating and shooting the puck around with my boys, I do believe I'd choose the latter. For awhile, anyway. Physically, I feel much better for the exercise and it's fun to watch the boys have a good time while they keep their interests diversified.

There's plenty of time left this upcoming season to set up the portable, fire up the propane heater and stare down a hole in the ice. But as long as the pleasant weather sticks around and keeps the subarctic temperatures at bay, I'll keep my skates and stick handy.

Dan Brown's weekly outdoor column is brought to you by Frankie's Bait and Marine, in Chisago City, and St. Croix Outdoors, in St. Croix Falls, Wis.

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