So today I picked up the 5 year old from school and I have two fishing rods in the car and she says" where are we going, Daddy?" and I anser "I want to show you something really, really cool."
I took her to a place called "The Cut".It's a concrete canal that was put in the bottom of a deep rock ravine to control erosion from an incoming stream. At the bottom of the canal is a 45 degree drop into a pool about 50 yards/meters across. For the last couple of days the creek chubs have been trying to swim up this 45 degree slope, hundreds at a time. It's no salmon-leap but it's still pretty cool to watch. She was fascinated and started picking out ones to cheer for!
But...nature always has a plan. So I bait us up and cast below where these fish are falling back into the water and SHAZAM! in 30 minutes she and I had four fine, fat rainbow trout on our stringers and a half-dozen suckers to use for cut-bait later this summer catfishing on The Mississippi River.
My daughter had a blast and caught the biggest rainbow all by herself.
Damn...I love being sober. It's so much easier to tune-in to the rythms of nature.
Doing sober things like fishing with your daughter is going to give her pleasent memories that will last for her entire life. She will look back long after you and I are gone and remember what a wonderful father she was blessed with.
Unfortunatly all too many children of practicing alcoholics are going to have bad memories for life.
Your daughter is one of the lucky ones.
Larry, --------------------- "God's message to me is 'stay out of the way, but be ready!'"
Thanks for reminding me. My son was 2 and my daughter 5 when I sobered up. We spent a lot of years of fun time together. After 21years and some, we still have a ball of time when we are together. They still have their Al-Ateen friends and more than once a year atleast they meet and fellowship. The man who thinks sobriety is enough is missing a large part of his recovery. I thank God for my fellowship with my kids. God bless, Gonee.
Tom, LMAO! Honestly, if I had any dynamite I'd be out in an abandoned quarry having a hillbilly good time with say...an old water-heater full of pink paint and a 30' radius circle of old pickup trucks. I Love Blowin' Sh** Up!
Dean, Well...I see a worthwhile trade comin' up. I guide you up and down some of the best trout waters in the U.S. and you take me out into the Gulf in your new toy during tarpon season. I've dreamed of catching tarpon since I was 12.
Tomorrow morning i'm taking my son and a neighbor's foster-son out to the same spot while the migration is still hot. Unless my wife goes into active labor...of course.
I probably wouldn't be the first father to show up on the labor & delivery unit wearing his waders!
I'm going on vacation soon and will be seeing my daughter...she's adult now, but had a horrific childhood, hatred me for years (justified), who will be spending time with me & my sister (sober 30 yrs) and her boyfriend...don't you all know how absolutely AWESOME this is? I think I should suggest fresh trout when we go out for dinner!!
I like them stuffed with minced red bell pepper, shredded carrots and tarragon, then poached in a weak lemonade. Mmmmmm.
Sent the neighbor's foster-son home with 3 nice rainbows for dinner.
Sadly, it looks like the chub migration is over. Nature comes and goes. I'm so happy that I was in the right place and at the right time and sober enough to get up at oh-dark-hundred.
