Spend enough time outdoors, and you’ll notice the subtlety of the seasons. Not the dramatic changes, like leaves turning and falling, or trees blooming out in the spring. I mean the quiet changes, that don’t draw attention to themselves and go by unnoticed by most. The smell of the wind. The angle of the sun through the trees. The patterns of game movement. Those are the signals that it’s time to re-focus priorities, and shift gears into something new.

December is one of those subtle seasons of change for us. Our last course of 2017 was this past weekend… and it was a huge success, by the way. Thanks again to everyone who came out and made it awesome! We chose not to offer any courses in December, because people are spending time on other things and focusing on their families, and we’d like to as well. January is coming in hot – we’ve got five courses scheduled, starting with Firecraft Essentials on Saturday, January 6th. Check out our upcoming course schedule here at: https://www.sarcraft.com/course-schedule/

We will also be taking a break from the blog, and from #WildEdibleWednesday as well. (The last one of those will be coming out tomorrow.) Our reasoning is that we’ve got a LOT of work to do. December is going to be our month to catch up, build, grow, and come back strong in the new year. We’re going to hit January hard, and we want to put our best foot forward.

So, what will we be working on? What can you expect from us in 2018? Well, among other things…

- New construction at the Proving Ground. We’re going to keep the specifics under wraps, but we’ve got some big things planned. When you come back for Firecraft in January, it’ll be a whole new world.

- Video content. This has been one of our biggest requests, so we intend to follow through with it. Be on the lookout for the debut of the SARCRAFT YouTube channel!

- Youth programs. The Boy Scouts of America is near and dear to our hearts, so we will be offering Merit Badge Challenges for the Wilderness Survival, Search & Rescue, Pioneering, and Forestry merit badges. This will be our entry into the youth outdoor education field… there will be plenty more to come!

- Corporate executive leadership training. We will be offering scenario-based leadership and team-building training for corporate executive teams, college student government associations, and any other group that wants to improve their team dynamics and leadership skills. If you have a group that would like to participate, email us ASAP – we won’t be doing very many of these, and they’ll fill up fast!

- Off-campus classes and seminars hosted by community partners. We are already scheduled to teach a class on outdoor knives at TruPrep in Marietta on January 29th, and we’ve got many more community partnerships in the works. Stay tuned!

And much, much more. We aren’t going totally radio silent in December – just stepping back a bit. We’ll still be broadcasting on all frequencies – we’ll still post content, be responsive to messages, and be operating The SARCRAFT Store. So don’t hesitate to key up the mic and give us a holler. Roger that? Rebel Beechwood and Galloping Groundhog over and out!

- Alex