Tags - wilderness survival, wilderness survival skills, camping, hunting, trips4
The Wonder of a Child
Carlyle Lake in Illinois
(c) Gary L. Benton, 2003
The early morning sun was low on the horizon as I repositioned myself on the hard aluminum boat seat. A slight wind was blowing from the west and the stern of the johnboat danced on the water. My twelve-year-old daughter and I had spent the night before camping on the shores of Carlyle Lake, in Illinois (about 60 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri). We had arrived late and had made camp in the dark. This fascinated her, though we had done it many times before. It seems camping brings all the excitement out in a youth. All of my children had been exposed to the out of doors since they were very small. Dave, my son, had first camped when he was less than a year old. He knew nature and respected it. Lisa was the same. The anchor was secured and while we moved I thought of breakfast.
While camping, breakfast was always an extremely exciting time for Lisa. She loved to cook her own food and to assist me with mine (she did all of this under my close supervision of course). She liked to help even when I did not need assistance. Nonetheless, I usually designated her the chef for the trip and ate whatever she cooked with gusto. I do have to admit though, I was once hesitant to eat the lump of charcoal she pronounced with pride as a T-bone steak cooked medium. But, as a father I did eat it and covered my indigestion very well the rest of the evening. That morning however, Lisa out done herself with a nice breakfast of precooked pancakes, a few slices of semi-raw bacon, and three dark black eggs over easy, kind of. I had made the coffee and really felt a special bonding with my daughter. I think nature has a way of making people feel closer than they usually feel. By early dawn we were on the lake, anchored, and ready to start fishing for bass.
"Dad, should I use a top floater or run deep?" Lisa asked with her eyes as much as her mouth. I could see the excitement of the first early morning fishing cast in her.
"Lisa, why don't you use a top floating minnow lure that you can work along the weeds near the shoreline and I will use a purple worm on the bottom. That way we can quickly determine which depth is the fish are at."
The morning was boring at best, as far as fishing goes. Lisa and I talked a lot about my growing up in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, farm life, and my earlier days of hunting, fishing, and camping. She loved to hear of the goofy things we kids always got into. I had to remind her often that we did not have a television, computer, electronic games or even a cd player to listen to. From the look on her face as I explained this, you would have thought I grew up with the Neanderthal man. I explained that we made our own entertainment and that most of the time it was harmless enough. But, we did, occasionally, get into some minor trouble while playing. The morning past quickly as my daughter and I fished and laughed. I still remember that discussion vividly. It was a special time, just for the two of us.
By noon we were back at the campsite. Lisa and I soon had our lunch of beans and franks smoking over the fire. I say smoking; because I knew her cooking fire was too big. The beans were burning. Some tricks of camp cook a little guy or gal just has to learn the hard way. She complained about the black beans in the bottom of the pot as he spooned them onto our plates.
"How come they burned like this?" She asked as her spoonful of blackened beans hit my plate.
"Fire was too large Lisa. A small fire is easier to cook with. You can control the heat better and it uses less wood. If you are ever in a place that has little wood or wet wood that is important to remember. Plus, beans have to be stirred often or they burn under the best conditions." I spoke as I added some chopped onion and hot sauce to my plate. I figured if I was going to get heartburn, I might as well enjoy the taste getting it.
"Well, in the movies they always have a huge fire while they are cooking. How do they keep from burning the food then?" She spoke as I watched her scoop up a large spoonful of beans into her mouth.
"It is just for show. See, in the movies everything is bigger than in real life. If a person attempted to cook on fires as big as the ones they use in the movies, well, it would burn all the food. Besides, the actors and actresses don't eat the food in the movies."
"I think I understand. Are those television-fishing shows the same? Or, is there a scuba diver in the water putting bass on the man's line so the camera's can film him catching them?"
I had to laugh as I thought of her comment. Where do kids come up with this stuff? I could see in my minds eye a diver in the water with a bag full of bass trying to hook them as the show's host made his cast.
"Lisa, I think not. Those people are real fishing professionals. They don't need a diver to catch a fish." I responded with a chuckled.
"Well, we might need one. Our morning has been terrible."
"Has it now? We were on the lake, got to talk, see and felt nature. I would hope you appreciated all of that."
"Awww, dad. I had a good time. But, I mean, a nice big fat bass dancing on my line would have made the morning much better. You know what I mean." I watched her speak and noticed how uneasy the conversation was making her. I guess I had put her on the spot. Her eyes turned down to her plate.
"Girl, are we going to talk all day or go get us some fish?" I said as I stood up. "Let's go get 'em dad." Lisa said and quickly was making her way to the boat.
The afternoon was almost an identical repeat of the morning. The exception occurred just before dusk. Lisa was using a floating lure near some cattails and I was working a popper near a fallen log that ran from the water up onto the bank. Suddenly, she gave a yell and the excitement started.
"I got something!" She screamed as the tip of her rod went down.
"Keep the rod tip up Lisa." I was enjoying this. I hoped she was able to land it. She was young but she had been fishing most of her life. She knew how to do it, if the fish would cooperate just a little.
"Get the net dad! Here he comes!" Lisa was beside herself with excitement. I had never seen her excited like this before.
Well, in a few minutes she had a nice four or five pound bass in the boat. Her whole face beamed as she held the fish up for the world to see.
"Nice fish Lisa. One you can be proud of."
"Yep. I am proud. I landed him all on my own." Her whole face was glowing with the joy of the catch.
"Now, what are you going to do with him? We can take him home to show him off, then eat him, or you can turn him loose." I asked this question on purpose. I wanted to see her response to it.
"I want to take him home to show mom and the Dave."
"Lisa, we could do that with photo's. If you take him home he with us he will die. So, that means we will end up eating him. Is that what you want? The choice is yours."
Long seconds pasted before Lisa gave me her response. "Man, this decision is hard dad. I want to show him off, but I don't want to kill him either. He's too nice a fish to die."
"Life is full of difficult choices Lisa. But, we will do whatever you want. Remember Lisa; conservation is the name of the game when it comes to our outdoors activities. If you don't preserve nature, well, one day we may not have it to enjoy. It is ok and legal to keep him, or you can turn him loose to catch again some other day. Make up your mind quickly because he will die soon if you don't. Then we will have no choice but the keep him."
That night during the drive home Lisa was just about to sleep beside me when she spoke for the first time in hours.
"Dad? Do you think I made the right decision?" As she looked at me I could see the sleep slowly creeping into her heavy eyelids.
"Lisa, there was no right decision. Either way it was fine. I am, however, proud of you. I think your decision was the best choice. That was a big fish and not many kids your age could have landed it. Even fewer would have taken photo's and then turned him loose."
As Lisa slept the rest of the way home I thought about my daughter. She was growing up. She had faced a difficult decision and made the one she felt was best. I think her decision was the best for her, me, the bass, and for everyone. I was glad she had not been greedy, thinking only of herself and the trophy she had caught. But, if she had kept the fish I would still remember the time we had shared. They were times of laughter, talking, and the sharing of nature.
My outdoors experiences with my children are what nature is all about. It is a time of growing and sharing. It is the making of memories that will live forever in our minds. It is the time for each of us, as responsible adults, to teach our children to conserve our great natural resources, so they can be enjoyed by future generations. Some day this summer take the time to invest in the future of our great out of doors, take a child fishing and watch the wonder of life come alive.
