Just for starters: There are just some words that you can not say the full “ing.” Fishing is one such word, so I will just say it as it should be: fishin’
Daniel loves to talk about fishin’. He use to imagine fishin’, dropping a string on the other side of the fireplace screen. Recently I got him a cheap toy fishin’ pole, complete with magnet nose fish. As I said, it was cheap, so it was transient, to say the least.
When I knew my brother was going to have some time off this week, which would actually put him in town rather than out of state or country, I asked if he would take Daniel fishin’. Time and place agreed upon, I needed to get Daniel a real pole.
After the pole was purchased, Daniel would *not* stop talking about going with Damien. He was beginning to drive me crazy. I told him he had to go to sleep 3 more times before it was fishin’ time. Once he woke up on the morning of fishin’, he asked about every 10 seconds if it was time to go to my cousin’s pond.
Damien talked with Daniel about fixing his pole properly. I tried to convince him to touch the worm, with no success. The two began fishin’ and all was well. I was very pleased with how quiet and attentive Daniel was.
Many casts later: no fish. My cousin took his son out on the small boat and began to catch fish immediately. After they enjoyed a few catch and release moments, they came to shore to trade out with Daniel and Damien. Daniel was thrilled to be out on the boat, and he still had not stopped yacking about fish.
Soon after departure, Damien caught a fish! As he reeled it to the boat, the fish began flopping, which almost gave Daniel a heart attack. He began screaming and crying, saying he did not want the fish. He placed his pole down and began to get out of the seat. Damien, holding his pole and newly caught fish in one hand, had to grab Daniel and place him back down with the other. Suddenly, Daniel’s pole had a nibble and was being tugged. Damien had to grab that pole before it was pulled into the pond. He then began to reel in that line with a fish in tow, which scared Daniel near to death. He was screaming and crying, hollering out “Put that fish back in the water!” And believe it or not, it was all about the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. My cousin, his kids, Wesley, and I all sat on the land, completely helpless, gawking and chuckling at Daniel, Damien, and the two flopping fish in the boat. The boy who wouldn’t shut up about fish was now actually catching them and he could not handle it! (just check out his face in the photo below! you can click on it and make it larger)
Once the fish were back in the water, Daniel was calm and collected again. He looked at Damien and said, “Let’s catch a baby fish now!” as if nothing ever happened. He did get a second fish and the tears and shouts were more subdued, which was nice.
All the way home, Daniel kept repeating, “I had a great time with Damien and those fish. We need fishin’ again Momma!”
My cousin, the pond owner, wins fishin’ tournaments each and every year. He has all sorts or lures and a pretty, fancy boat. Being that my son was not too keen on touching the big, fat worms (he’ll touch tiny ones in the yard), nor was he even contemplating touching a fish, I am not too sure if that is in his future. I do know, however, that all of us will remember that hilarious moment of uncle and nephew on the pond…..some just more fondly than others!
realize games did more than have flashing buttons that did nothing when pushed. A game of basketball, some target practice, a min-bowling game, some skee-ball, and a drive in a car later, we decided to call it quits, much to Daniel’s dismay. I kept all his tickets for another trip because there were so many others stampeding the ticket redemption booth that I did not want to bother, especially since he had no idea what the tickets meant. Since we have a pass for the entire summer, we will be back—when school buses are NOT there—and we can redeem them then.
The V Files 