Around 12:30 p.m. Bobby and I packed up our fishing gear and headed to Maple Lake (Daddy/Son Day #100!). On the drive over I told him about a memory from when I was about his age. One day I ended up alone in a hayfield beside the old motel. I lay on my back watching clouds, making shapes out of them. I wasn’t thinking about school or people bothering me—just there in the moment. I told him that was one of the few times of my childhood I remember really living in the “now” and not regretting the past or being anxious about the future.
At the lake, we started at our usual spot. Two men in a rowboat were just coming in, so we had to watch our casts. They were both originally from Nova Scotia. One sold his “winter” house in Tucson this year because of all the upheaval in the US.
They caught a few fish, and gave us some tips, but we didn’t get anything. A family with small kids showed up, so we decided to move. The men in the boat told us to try a “little spit” across the lake that’s supposed to be the best spot on Maple Lake. We went over there and tried for a while but didn’t catch anything there either.
Bobby found an old stick someone had turned into a fishing pole with string and a hook. He tried that for a bit, said he had a good feeling, but still no luck. I was using the orange PowerBait I’d bought last year. Some people say it expires, others say it doesn’t. Either way, it didn’t seem to make much difference today.
I sat on a fallen log and rested and told Bobby that we could stay as long as he wanted (see photo to the left). When he was ready, we’d grab something to eat. It didn’t take long before he said he’d had enough. I notice that he gets “bored” with things quite easily. Understandable for his age, but I think the exciting world of video games doesn’t help with attention span.
On the way home we stopped at Wendy’s. Bobby ordered a cheeseburger kid’s meal and a large chocolate Frosty. He didn’t want to go inside, so we ate in the car. On the drive home we mostly talked about his school, his friends, and going over to Isaac’s house tomorrow. Bobby told me that he sits at a table with “Bo” and “Bowden”… Does nobody call their kids Mike or Joe these days?
No fish today, but it was a good day out with him. Quiet, simple, and another small lesson in patience.
Back at the house my wife finished the puzzle of the map of the world she was working on. She cleaned the lawn and blew away some of the leaves off the driveway. She also cleaned the chicken roosting poles with vinegar and sprinkled them with fancy moisture absorbing volcanic dust. She also mended the mesh around the chicken coop so that the birds cannot get in it anymore.
Kate and her mother went next door to meet Carolyn’s new German Shepherd puppy Mishka. They will be sitting him for three hours on Monday evening as it’s Carolyn’s birthday.