One of those nice moments in life...

Watchful

Watchful

Joined
Dec 8, 2004
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Before the holiday, my wife had the great idea for us all to go hike along a stony river near our home. I forgot all about this place: perfect for biking or horseback riding as well, there are thousands of deeply wooded acres to hike. If you hike the river, you get the added attraction of finding a small, wide, and multi-terraced waterfall. Perfect for contemplation, photography, or splashing water at friends and family members.

We went off-trail, and at one point I sat on a large rock near the river and decided to check the compass, just to make sure I wasn't getting confused about where we were heading.

Little Watchful is four years old, and sat next to me, staring at the compass. He asked what it was, and I replied "It's a compass."*

"What's it do?"

"It points toward that direction, no matter how you turn it. That way, if we get turned around, we know what direction to walk to get back."

He watched me turn it around, and said. "Can I have one?"

"Sure," I replied, "Pretty soon."

"Will you teach me to use it?"

Zing! "You bet, buddy," I said. "You bet."


So--time to reflect and reminisce. Any of you parents or guardians have a great moment like that, when the youngster(s) realize you know Something Useful?

Share!

*Like many of you, I say "KAHM-puss." A "kum-puss" is something you draw circles with.
 
I had a moment kinda like that I was fishing and my son was 2yrs old and was watching me fish while the wife was sitting on the bank watching the world go by,when he saw me with a fish and I let him touch it , it was like a whole new world to him and wanted to fish from then on, he's 9 now and loves to catch bluegills & catfish . We have a fishing weekend planned soon but I will never forget the joy and excitement he got from seeing his 1st. real fish eye to eye !:)
 
Watchful, I asked my wife to marry me along that river. She was in school in Deerfield. Yeah, good moments.

Slayer Jr is 3 and experiencing the fishing phenomenon this summer. He got a little carried away with a bluegill once and got poked by its dorsal spikes. He looked at me like I was the one who did it and said "those things are DANGEROUS!" Why they use certain words to describe things is beyond me. He doesn't like touching them anymore. He does like to catch them though. My screen saver is Him with his first bluegill.

Seems kids go throug phases as it relates to dads:
Early years: You (Dad) are the coolist / smartest guy in the world.
Middle years: You are the stupidist person on the face of the earth.
Young adult: Maybe he's not so stupid..
Adult: Y'know I kind of like it when he's around

Guess we'll take it when we get it.
 
Deerslayer71 said:
Watchful, I asked my wife to marry me along that river. She was in school in Deerfield. Yeah, good moments.
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Hey, that's awesome! Congrats, no matter how long ago that was.

Deerslayer71 said:
Seems kids go throug phases as it relates to dads:
Early years: You (Dad) are the coolist / smartest guy in the world.
Middle years: You are the stupidist person on the face of the earth.
Young adult: Maybe he's not so stupid..
Adult: Y'know I kind of like it when he's around.
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As Mark Twain is alleged to have said: "The older I get, the smarter my father gets."

My dad always appreciates when I quote that.
 
I've had a few moments... not exactly like that...just a moment when they said or did something that made me well up with a special kind of fatherly pride.

1. When my 17-year-old was four, she told my Brigade commander that she was going to be a "Green Beret" when she grew up. When the Colonel told her that she couldn't because she was a girl, she kind of looked him up and down and said, "try to stop me."

2. When my 11-year-old was three, he disarmed a twelve-year-old bully who was threatening him with a toy gun and pistol-whipped him into submission then told him that "guns are not toys".

3. This was just a month ago, my six-year-old, casually mentioned that we were facing North. I asked her why she thought that and she pointed out Polaris and explained how she found it by using the Big Dipper. I asked her how she knew that and she said she learned it by listening to me explain it to her older brother. She did have another moment last year that's a close second: On her first day of Kindergarten, there was a bully that took her Barbie backpack and threw it on the ground. She told him to pick it up and give it to her but, instead, the bully shoved her down. She got back up and repeated herself. This time, when the bully went to shove her, she punched him in the ear.
 
Nice story Watchful!

If that stony river is the Des Plaines, I have spent a lot of time around it in the Forest Preserves on the north side.
 
Yup, when my very young daughter walked out of the house while I was shooting a few cedars into a target butt. She watched for a few minutes and asked if she could try. Now............. I've been waiting for her to say something on her own, for two whole years and I said sure, wait here a minute and watch my bow for me. I went in and got the hand made longbow I had stashed for her under our bed. Grabbed some arrows that I made for her and the little quiver I had made and went back outside. When I handed her the bow, she cried and threw her arms around my neck and gave me a big hug and kiss. Then I proceeded to walk her up to the target and let her try her hand at archery. 2 years later, she won first place in a Nevada mixed 3D shoot and the next year, she won 2nd over 20+ other kids in an all traditional shoot. I couldn't have been more proud.
 
I'm no Pitdog when it comes to photography, but here's the place we went to.

Here's the waterfall.
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This is a steep hill that I pushed my two-year-old up;
he wound up doing the work himself and was a real trooper.
Little Watchful, the four-year-old, actually had more trouble.
That surprised me.
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This shows the same hill from the side, in case you wanted to check the degree of incline.
100_1275.jpg

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This is a sideways view I forgot to rotate.
Pretend you're falling down it, and it will make more sense.
100_1274.jpg
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Here we are at the top, looking down at the river.
100_1273.jpg
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The top of the little fall.
100_1272.jpg
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The other side, probably damn close to where Deerslayer proposed.
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Looking up the water. It was about 95 degrees with high humidity
that day, so we were baking. About two hours before sunset.
100_1268.jpg
 
I've got one turning 5 on the 30th. She's staying with Grandma for a month while we move, and its killing me...
 
Great pics. Awesome place.

Our daughter has provided us with several such moments over the last few years. From "can I help skin?" to "can I shoot the glock?" to "can I have a swiss army knife for my birthday?"

Good times.
 
Thanks. Heartwarming stuff.

I remember going hunting with my uncle many years ago. We were walking through heavy forest in a fairly flat area with no real landmarks. We each had a compass.

Deciding which way to go, we both consulted our compasses and came up with opposite directions. My compass, for some strange reason, had changed polarity and the painted end of the needle was now pointing south. I must have stored it too close to some strong magnetic field.
 
Coote,

One of those stories when you'd think I would have known better... and I did...

I was at the very place photographed above, and I laid down a map of the place and put my compass on it.

I found our current location, where we wanted to go, and discovered with some shock that map North did not equal where my compass was pointing.

It took me literally three minutes of turning the map, checking the surroundings, finding landmarks, and so on, before I realized I placed the map and compass on the metal trunk lid of my car.

I was a goof. I took the map and compass off, and about fifteen seconds later, watched the compass needle slowly turn and correctly agree with the map.
 
marcinek said:
If that stony river is the Des Plaines, I have spent a lot of time around it in the Forest Preserves on the north side.
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No, this river is not a branch of anything worthwhile, to my knowledge. It's part of the Argonne Labs reclamation, I think.

But I am quite familar with the area of the Des Plaines River you mention, having grown up in the NW side of Chicago. Frittered many an hour there.

BTW, I don't actually know you, do I? It'll turn out we went to school together. I just know it.
 
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