Conversations from an Overnighter with Jack

Dad: "I can't believe we aren't catching anything! This seems like a great place to catch fish!"

Son (happily wading the lake shore): "So Dad, do you catch fish when I am not with you?"

Dad pauses. "No, not a lot."

Son: "Oh, I thought maybe it was just when I was with you."

My dad and both grandads are/were good fisherman, but I never had the patience for it when I was young. I'd be running around or playing with the fire while they caught fish. I don't know if I didn't get the good fisherman gene or if I just missed out on learning the technique from them, but my fish catching abilities are only getting better very slowly. It's quite the joke around the house. Anyone remember the episode of I Love Lucy where she pre-hooked a store bought frozen fish to pull in and prove her fishing prowess? I may need to consider this tactic soon.

As dusk was turning to dark...
Jack: "Do you think bears live here?"

Dad: "I don't know. Not right here, anyway, no."

Jack: "How close to here?"

Dad: "Miles away at least, but bears won't bother us. There are too many people around."

Jack: "Can bears walk miles in one night?"

Dad: "Yes, but I don't think they will." 

Quiet for a few minutes...

Jack: "Let's tell stories. But nothing about monsters or zombies. Ghosts are fine. If a ghost tries to eat you, they'd just go right through you. Ghosts aren't scary."

Until I had kids, I forgot how many things there are in the world to be afraid of. A child's world is enormous, in that there are myriads of terrifying creatures that may not exist, or may just not have been discovered yet, and still it is very small world too, in the sense that all those creatures apparently converge upon Cartersville, Georgia at night. Fortunately, a flashlight left on will keep most of these creatures at bay.

Next morning on the water in the canoe...
Dad: "Isn't it nice out here on the water?"

Jack: "Oh yeah. When can we build another fire?"

Dad: "What? I thought we were fishing."

Jack: "Right. But we'll need a fire to cook the fish."

Dad: "Well, let's catch the fish first."

Jack: "If we don't catch fish, can we still build a fire?"

Fifteen minutes, and no fish, later...

Jack: "Can we be done? I just want to do a fire."

I believe that I have learned as much from this boy as I have taught him in his five years. I wish I could remember what the world looked like when I was his age, but the honesty and startling clarity that comes through when having a conversation with him is what I enjoy the most. 

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"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."