Adults vs. Children

It's amazing how your perspective on things changes from when you're a kid to an adult. As a child, you might have thought that any adult that was in charge was against you, whether it was your parents, a relative, a teacher, or even a day care worker. You just didn't have the freedom as a child and couldn't get away with what you wanted. Oh how nice it would be if we could fast forward time to get a glimpse of what life would be like as an adult. Or even if a time machine actually did exist. I know there's always that risk of altering the past by visiting the future - but so long as you don't bump into your future self, there's really no harm in seeing what you may end up as an adult. But would any child really understand what the future may hold, no matter if one could advance time to the future?

Back when I was a kid, I always enjoyed trips to my uncle's garage just a short drive from home. I refer to it as a garage because that's basically what it is. Two separate pole buildings where my uncle stores an incredible amount of stuff in. And when I was a kid, it was like an indoor playground. One of my cousins was about my age and the other was a little bit older. But we always had a good time together. Whether it was riding go-carts and mini-bikes, to playing with matchbox cars, and even playing statues. There wasn't a game we didn't play together. And it was always special when I was able to stay over a night or two at their place because we always had a good time together. And then we grew up and now we hardly see each other anymore.

I remember discussing it with one of my cousins when I was a kid about how much fun it was to be over at his place while I was bored at my house. And then yet, he felt the exact same way as me, except that he was bored at his place while he had a blast being at my house. I guess I never really understood why that was when I was a kid. I mean, he had everything and anything to place with at his place. Heck, he was even able to swim everyday of the summer out at their family camp. Yet, he would rather be at my house. Well, I guess that was because we were together, and typically you have more fun playing with someone else than being by yourself. And it's also a new environment, a place completely different than what you're used to. And you may be able to get away with more mischief because whoever it watching you is not your parents. As an adult, it all makes sense now.

Now a days, I'd rather be at my house than out at my uncle's garage. I mean, it's nice to visit there from time to time, but to spend long periods of time there like I did as a kid; well, it would just get downright boring. More often than not I'm put to work there than anything else. And my cousins just aren't around as frequently anymore. They have their own lives and just can't come up to the U.P. like they could as kids. That's the disappointment in growing up. Things change and yet they ever rarely remain the same.

Fishing Adventures

Recently I've had fishing on my mind and how I'd like to start going again. It was a reminder of all the fun experiences I had when I was a kid and proved to be a great activity growing up. It's been years since I last cast out a fishing rod but it really would not take much for me to start going again. I have a fishing rod back at my parents house and all I'd have to do is buy the lure, find a river, and start fishing! I'm really not sure that I'd actually keep the fish because I don't really have much of an appetite for fresh fish, only when it comes to fish sticks. But still, the excitement of having a fish on your line and trying to reel it in - it's really a great feeling.

I believe the last time I went out on a fishing adventure was when my sister and I did some fishing near the old family farmhouse a short distance from my parents house. This was back when I was in high school and she in college - so over ten years ago. A river boarders the property line and there had been reports of trout in the river in the past. More often than not we never ended up catching anything, other than a sucker fish here and there. My sister ended up catching the suckers while I caught nothing. But despite the lack of catching anything, it was always a great experience being there with my sister. Now, it would be too difficult for her to break away from her family.

Those fishing experiences with my sister weren't the only ones I had. Back when I was about six or seven years old, my Great Uncle Elmer took me and my cousins on a few fishing trips. One trip it was just him and I, in fact. I was too young to really appreciate the time I had with him, but I remember having a ton of fun hanging out with him. My dad made a home video of one of our fishing trips. In the video, I had caught a fish but was having such a horrible time taking the fish off the hook. It was so slimy, gross, and dangling there wildly that I would just rather leave it dangling on the hook. Eventually my uncle came over and took it off for me - him chucking at my reaction to the fish. Now, I wouldn't have an issue taking a fish off the hook because I can grab the thing and twist the hook right out of the thing's mouth. But that was more of an issue back when I was just a kid.

I remember another memorable fishing trip when I went out on the lake at my cousin's camp to do some fishing. We ended up finding an excellent spot and caught an incredible amount of perch. Every time we'd cast our line out into the lake, we usually ended up with a bite. I remember us having a bucketful of perch before the day was out. I still remember that time with my cousin's very vividly and it's one of those trips I'll always remember.

So who knows, maybe next summer I'll get back into the swing of going out fishing again. But a lot of things have changed and even more things may be changing in my life before long. Will I even get the time to go fishing? That will remain to be seen. Whatever the case, I still have plenty of good memories regarding fishing adventures I've had in the past. And if I never go fishing again, at least I'll always be able to hold onto those.

Trying to Enjoy the Water

I'll be honest; I am not a big fan of water. Never have been and probably never will. Even when I was little, I had no desire to learn how to swim, even though practically everyone else I knew was swimming and having the time of their lives. I guess I could never get over my fear of drowning. To me (and I am sure many people will agree with me), drowning and being burned to death are two of the worst ways to die. We went to the Wisconsin Dells water park when I was around eight years old and remember going into the wave pool and being sucked under a wave. It caught me off guard and freaked me out pretty badly. A few years later, I went into a deep area of the lake at my uncle's camp and started panicing; thrashing around in the water trying to stay afloat. Luckily a cousin pulled me into a shallow area. Needless to say, I've had scary moments with water that I will probably never get over. Most of the time on a hot day, people will head to the beach. I'd rather head into a place with air conditioning.

Visiting my uncle's camp and spending time with my cousins was probably one of the best moments I remember in the summer time when I was little. But I must admit, I'd always get annoyed at their persistence in getting me to learn how to water ski. For many summers, I'd always put it off, coming up with some sort of an excuse. Finally, when they had other people trying to learn how to water ski, I succumbed to their pressure. I gave it the old college try and struck out on my first adventure. And wouldn't you know, that was my only attempt since. I ended up losing my balance and diving face first into the water. I remember dropping down into the water and eventually bobbing up to the surface. It was the weirdest feeling and it pretty much freaked me out. There were many times when I'd ride in the back of the boat and watched my cousins on water skis and was awed at their talents. And it wasn't just skis, but wake boards as well. But I was never envious at what they were able to do behind that boat. It simply did not interest me in learning how to water ski. And the thought of suddenly losing my balance and falling out in the middle of the lake where the water is 50 or more feet deep was not too pleasant of a thought, either.

I never really got a big kick out of riding Sea Doos, either. I really don't understand the fascination behind them. This was another water toy that my uncle owned. I took a few rides with my cousin on a Sea Doo and ended up flipping the thing - not once, but twice. And even though in all of these experiences I had life jackets on, it was still not good enough for me. Just the thought of going overboard and dropping into the water was enough to scare the living daylights out of me. An enjoyable day at the lake for me is to simply wade in a shallow end of the lake, maybe ride an innertube, and just relax. I'm not into the watercraft, high-speed fun. What can I say, I'm kind of boring when it comes to that stuff.

And even though I have a fear of the water (yes, I have come to this conclusion some time ago), I still enjoy heading out to the beach every once in awhile to cool off. It's been incredibly hot the past few days and the thought of taking a dip in Lake Superior seems so refreshing this evening. I think that's where I am going to head right now.