Friday, May 31, 2002

In Dad's hunting grounds...

As we headed up Stony Run Road, Dad bet that we would stop three times before we arrived at his fishing spot on Pine Creek. We did! I became so engrossed in photographing the little water falls along the way that we nearly didn't have time for fishing. Actually I wasn't finished but stop. Sometime I will return and it must be in the afternoon when splashes of sunlight hit the water falls, and dad tells me it must be during a wet time.

And now that I reflect on it, the journey home was filled with my rambling about life and dad nodding in agreement (not sleeping, but listening) we covered the spectrum from aging, mom, marriage to dying and back going through hell in the process. The mysteriousness of God weighed heavy in there somewhere.

One should go hunting with Dad more often, and I intend to while that is still possible. Me with my camera and he with his gun, although it seems just an excuse to be in the out of doors he enjoys so much. I doubt whether I will ever see him kill an animal, as rarely have my younger brothers, the real hunters of the family.

Mostly it's about being with Dad where he smiles lots...an eventful day that was a salve for the spirit and cement for the bond.

jim