Moving To Water
Posted on April 11th, 2011
I’m sitting in the Roscoe Diner eating a bison burger with an order of potato pancakes on the side. It is 11 degrees fahrenheit outside and snowing and my two-year-old is throwing her carrots. I’m in the heartland of Eastern trout fishing but as far away from casting a fly as you could possibly be.
Route 17 winds along the flowing river and as we drive I have thoughts about that. I have fantasies of loading up a car, throwing a canoe on top, and just going, hitting every spot of water I run across. I could do it every day until I’m 80 and still not cover enough water. I look in the rear view mirror at my daughter in her car seat. This is not going to happen.
I still think about this more than is healthy.
In the dreams I have at night I am never actually fishing. I’m always moving to water. On a winding road with the the headlights rolling back the fog that hugs the asphalt. Rust Never Sleeps is on and “Thrashers” is playing and everyone else in the car is asleep but we’ve got to keep moving to catch first light on the water.
It was then I knew I’d had enough, burned my credit card for fuel…
I want to be fishing in these dreams but I’m always chasing it.
Right now, in reality, we are driving upstate in January. Snow flickers in front of the windshield; the wife and baby are in the backseat watching a cartoon DVD. My wife is pregnant again with another daughter; history will repeat itself. My daughter falls asleep in the backseat near Deposit and when she wakes up, my time is hers. And if she wants to move to water one day I’ll make sure she gets there.
Damn dude. Reminds me of the end of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. In the best way possible.
Wow. Pretty strong stuff Pete.
I know your fever and the way a growing family can make it even more acute. As painful as it can be, I hope the passion for water never dies. Keep on moving…
Nice… very nice. I have an active fantasy life that involves fishing more than is reasonable or socially acceptable. I also have a 4 year old that will keep that from happening.
Love it, and can relate very well having a 4 year old son and 1.5 year old daughter myself.
Dude hang in there. Now my daughter is eight and my son is five. Now when my daughter says “dad lets go fishing” my heart skips a beat.
It’s one of a handful of things to look forward to when you think about getting older. Eventually those kids are gonna grow up and leave, and if not you’ll eventually get up and leave. And you’ll have all this time, time like you had back in your twenties, to just fish. Or do whatever.
I used to cast with my oldest in a back pack as I stood in the Beaverkill. It was May.I once took two pre teen sons in April and had to prop them up in 22 inches of snow about this time of year.
The kids came faster than the fish and now I rarely get there.
This hit the spot. I have two daughters under two years old and we just got back from Tahoe where my oldest saw, touched and played in the snow for the first time. Snuck away for twenty minutes. Just long enough to verify the Truckee was accessible and fishable – pre run off. Rushed back to help with my eight-week old daughter thinking about the one day they’ll see, touch and play by that same river.
Funny how the mind gives you just enough in your dreams, for where you are in your life, to keep you dreaming.
My three now move me to water…and it is exactly as I have dreamed.
Enjoy the ride in the meantime, boss.
Magnificent post. Take heart, it gets better. My wife and I had both kids on the water in a high sided drifter before they could walk. Make it a routine part of life from the very early days and it will become just that – a routine part of life. They’ve been moving to water ever since.
Whoa, heavy stuff there, Pedro.
You’re not back on those mullett meds, are you?
Great stuff, Pete. I used to have similar dreams – I was always on a river bank or in a boat, watching fish rise and trying to tie on a fly. I don’t dream that now because I’m retired and can actually go fishing.
Good stuff, Pete. I’ve got two girls, 3.5 yrs and 8 months. Misery loves company.
Thanks for all the comments, and TB, ciproflaxin does strange things to the mind.