Karen Wils photo

ESCANABA — Welcome the new year with the zest and eagerness of a beagle about to go running.

2025 has arrived and with it comes many worries, concerns and issues.

We worry about everything from world peace to safety in our schools. The economy and the environment make us pray for a paycheck that the family can live on and weather, water and clean air to survive on.

There are things to look forward to in the new year. A new/used president coming into office, more new lead-free water pipes for Escanaba, the NFL draft in Green Bay in April, and Tahquamenon Falls State Park revamped with better access; it should be an interesting year.

It’s so easy to get overwhelmed. It’s easy to want to sit back on the couch and let the world go round.

But we all need to be beagles at this time of the year. Even if it’s cold, gray and snowy outside, we need to embrace the wintertime.

2025 will have lots of adventures for us to follow. Whether it is at work, what interesting projects will get completed? Whether it is at school, what new skills will be learned? At home, will there be anniversaries, baptisms, graduations and will that back room finally get painted?

Will a ten-point whitetail visit your deer blind? Will a wall-hanger walleye be added to your den?

Yes, there are a lot of problems to deal with in 2025, but Yoopers like beagles are tenacious and tough and love a challenge.

“p1″>I have heard an old saying that “everything I learned, I learned from my dog.” My beagles certainly have taught me a few things and have provided a great amount of exercise for me and my family over the years.

Beagles are not couch potatoes. Beagles do not ever pass up an opportunity to eat. Beagles love the outdoors, and beagles love their pack (other beagles).

The beagle is known for its friendliness and its wagging tail.

So, as we are making new year’s resolutions, let’s try to be more like beagles.

Roll and play in the snow whenever possible. Getting fresh air and exercise in the wintertime is important. Snowshoeing, skiing and ice skating make the cold weather seem a bit warmer.

Howl and sing with your family like you’re chasing rabbits. Sing in church (it’s a good way to pray to God or a good way to get back at him if your voice is not the greatest). Sing around the campfire, laugh and enjoy much camp time.

Be adventurous and explore that back forty and every new and exciting thing that life has to offer you.

And another nice thing about beagles is they know how to stretch out and snore in front of the woodstove and dream about rabbits, mud puddles, Milk Bones and pets.

I hope 2025 is filled with much tail-wagging fun.

Blessings and best wishes for a great year.

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Karen (Rose) Wils is a lifelong north Escanaba resident. Her folksy columns appear weekly in Lifestyles.