During these times of heightened worry and isolation, we at Arizona Boating & Watersports/Western Outdoor Times wish you good health, safety, hope, and peaceful spirits. All of you who love the outdoors already know of the calm that can surround us when we are there, whether at a water side or in a forest, or in a beautiful desert-scape - whether we are watching the swaying trees, the soaring birds, or the budding cactus blossoms.

It is in these places where our senses can be calmed and Mother Nature can hold us gently in her arms. One of my favorite poems says this well:

"The Peace of Wild Things"

When despair for the world grows in me,

And I wake in the night at the least sound,

In fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water,

And the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things,

Who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.

I come into the presence of still water,

And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light.

For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

-- By Wendell Barry

So, we urge you, whenever you can, to go outdoors and feel the comfort of nature -- even if you just go for a drive or a short walk. We may be at a "social distance" but we are not alone.

2 - PORTS - DOWNSTREAM - There is a new system for entering your events.

4 - BOATING - Grant funds are available for transient boaters.

8 - TACKLE & TARGET - This month's featured pro is Casey Iwai.

11 - LAND CRUISING - Prescott's Granite Reef Park is being improved.

14 - WESTERN WILDLIFE - The National Wildlife Federation offers educational opportunities.