A Review of 2025

By Ben Smith:

In keeping with the theme of previous years gone by, my final column of the year will serve as an attempt to recap the highlights of 2025. Far less emotional than 2024, I felt like the year zipped by so fast. It feels like yesterday that I was writing about the end of 2024 and yet, here we are again. I hope that all three people that read this column had a great year and enjoy the year to come!

We kicked off the new year in the only way I know how…hunting. What’s become our annual Southern Drawl duck/deer hunt commenced the day after New Year’s and was a great success. Plenty of birds killed, plenty of laughs, and one semi-illegal buck. Technically, one buck of choice on private land saved the day, but to me, it wasn’t a legal deer. Of course, it wasn’t killed on purpose. The shot was three-hundred yards in a lane, and the spikes were all of two inches above the scalp. Not very easy to see, but a lesson learned in the process. 

Late January gave us a pleasant snowpacalypse surprise. We obviously don’t get much snow in the Deep South so anything over a light dusting is meteorological phenomenon. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t love a good snow. Everything feels so quiet and peaceful. We built a nice fire in our outdoor firepit and sat out there the entire day watching the kids play. Honestly, if you asked our kids what their favorite moment of the year was it would probably be the snow day.

Spring soon arrived and I had to contend with the fact that this would be the first time in thirty-five years that I wasn’t on a baseball field. For the first time in my life, I watched all of the games from the bleachers, which I’m not going to lie, was tough. I’ve been asked over a hundred times, “Do you miss it?” I generally respond with the usual, “I miss certain parts of it.” I sat down one evening and thought about what I really missed most about it and the answer is going to sound weird. I think I missed putting a uniform on more than anything else. There is just something about representing your school’s name across your chest that brings a sense of pride. Although, I still represent our university in a different way, not doing it on the field felt weird and I missed that feeling. For the first time in my life I didn’t get to experience the adrenaline of standing on the line listening to the national anthem being played waiting for the game to begin. People that have been in my shoes before all say that it gets easier with time. I, however, don’t think I’ll ever not miss those moments right before the game begins.

Turkey season arrived in March, and I’d promised that I’d break the cycle and kill a bird this spring. I’d always used the excuse of baseball to compensate for my inability to kill a turkey, and this was the first spring that my excuse wouldn’t hold up. I went on several turkey hunts during the season, but the results would up the same. Another season gone, another season of not killing a turkey. I did have a couple of really good hunts where I got to watch the birds strut on the top of the hill gobbling their heads off. That was fun, but I almost felt like in the end it made it worse. I’m beginning to sound a lot like a Cubs fan when I keep saying, “Just wait until next year.”

As the year was rolling along, April came and broke my heart. Our dog, which we’d had for eight years began to have some serious health issues. I’d noticed her slowing down before but could really tell something was wrong when she wouldn’t play fetch any longer. After taking her to our vet, we got the worst news for a dog owner. She was battling two different problems and treating one would cause the other to essentially kill her. We had no choice but to have her euthanized. As hard as the previous year had been with the loss of a few family members, this one hit me like a ton of bricks. She was my buddy. She was my hunting partner. Seven months later and I’m still depressed any time I see another dog. 

Summer arrived and stayed until December because that’s how Mississippi works. Family vacations to Texas and the beach were sandwiched between fishing trips and alligator hunting adventures. I’d say the highlight of the summer was watching the son of one of my best friends from growing up kill his first ever alligator. It was a near perfect evening on an oxbow lake just off of the Mississippi River. We’d put the boat in and tagged two alligators before midnight, which is a rare feat for me. Seeing the satisfaction and joy on his face with those gators in the boat made it one of the best alligators hunts that I’ve ever been on.

The year was rather low-key for our family and I’m not going to complain about that. We needed a year without a lot happening after the last few. Watching our kids continue to grow and learn through the year has been the most rewarding thing. It doesn’t make for edgy columns, but it makes this heart full and happy. I hope all of you have a safe and prosperous 2026 full of adventure. Before I go, I want to leave everyone with one statistical fact that kind of ties to the year: over the course of reported history, there have been over 250 hurricanes to enter the Gulf of Mexico…there have been zero to enter the Gulf of America. Happy New Year!