Little Fishin' Buddy

 

I think by now it has been established that I have a huge, crazy, and unique family. You know the saying "Blood is thicker than water?" I truely believe it. My dad adds to it though. According to him, blood is thicker than water. However the blood of Christ is thicker than family blood. Which means those who are believers can be closer to you than your family. However, the strongest bond of all is blood relative who is blood in Christ. That is what is awesome about my family and why I believe we are so close. Not only do we have that bond of the Davis family, but we are also tied through the blood of Christ. Not to brag or anything, but BOY has God blessed me!! You know in my posts I have mentioned my brothers, my sisters, multiple cousins, my parents and my uncle. Today however, I have been thinking about a more distant relative, yet one I love dearly: Great-Uncle Ray.

I grew up as a little princess. The oldest of 4 children at the time and the only girl. I was a strange mix of pretty princess and anything my brothers can do, I can do better. How can I describe this? Imagine a little girl, who's hair had been all curled and put on top of her head. Her tiara sat on top and her wand in her hand. She wore a pink tutu and ran barefoot....through the biggest mud puddle she could find. I guess some of the best stories to describe the little girl I was would be first, Sundays. Often my cousin would spend the night and my mom would put our hair up in curlers and pile our curly hair up high the next morning. I loved it! I would then slip into one of my fancy dresses that was hand embroidered by my mom and they often had puffed sleeves! I felt like a princess. However, that dress soon became a nuisance when trying to play in the playground at Burger King. Did you know, that if you pull your skirt through your legs and tuck it into your waistband you can make pants? Like I said, anything my brothers could do, I could do better. In fact I could do it in high heels and a dress!

The second story is my mother's favorite. She is constantly telling this story. In fact I was so young I don't remember it happening but I've heard it enough. Apparently, I was out catching Rolly Pollies one day and was so excited to show my mom my find. When I brought them to the door, my mom promptly told me that they were not allowed inside and I would have to let them go. I gently set them on the porch, scooted them on their merry way and said, "go on, go to your families." At that very moment my brother Hunter stomped his foot on top of them and began to grind them into the cement. Any normal little girl who cared for animals, like a good little princess should, would have begun to cry. I however, looked down at the dead insects and said matter of factly, yet slightly mournful, "oh, well I guess you can't go to your families anymore." That's my mentality towards animals summed up in a nutshell.

I am totally rabbit trailing....(then again, is that any surprise) Let's get to the point of this post, shall we? I guess I wanted to establish what kind of little girl I was because that is what this post is all about, fond memories of when I was a little girl. You see, I had three brothers and I was the princess but there was one thing I loved to do and when I was really little I remember Great Uncle Ray teaching me how. He taught me how to FISH. Yep, I loved fishing. If memory served me right, I had one of those cheap little kid fishing poles, the ones with the button, not the real kind. I haven't been fishing with Uncle Ray in over ten years but every time I see him, he still calls me his "little fishin' buddy." And every time I hear it, it makes me smile.

I didn't just go fishing with Uncle Ray. In fact, I have to give credit to all the men in my life, because they all helped teach me how to fish: Grandpa, Papa, Dad, Uncle Chad, Landon, Hunter, Caleb, and Garrett. I grew up with a lot of outdoorsy people. :) But my first memories are of sitting impatiently with my little fishing pole beside Great Uncle Ray. I think he sparked a love for fishing in my life. I felt like I could hold my head up high with pride when I caught worms, put them on a hook without whining like a girl, toss my line into a pond and pull out a large mouth bass. As the years have passed, I have gotten more girly and traveled too much to fish a whole lot. In fact, most of the time when I am home its already winter and I am unable to fish and have no desire to ice fish. But, those rare spring or summer days I find myself home and able to travel out an hour to the prettiest piece of country you have ever seen and sit by the big pond with a pole in my hand, those days, those are precious. Like a healing balm on the soul. It's so quiet and peaceful. When I think about it, I think of the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19.

"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper...."

Ahhhh the Land the Land.... There I go again, rabbit trailing. Besides the times I went fishing with Uncle Ray, a few other times are vivid in my memory. Like for instance the many times Uncle Chad and Landon would come out to the Land and fish for several days, bringing all there fish to the house and cleaning them on the porch. Mom wasn't to happy about it, but us kids thought it was the coolest thing to watch them fillet a fish. Then there is the morning my sister Kaytie was born. My other siblings went into town to stay with Nana and Papa, but I was able to stay a little longer. That afternoon dad and I went over the the big pond and went fishing. That day I caught an 8lb bass! I was so excited!

About a year or two later we moved back to town. During high school, Pop's would close his little shop early on Fridays, pack his car and take me out the the land. We would fish, watch the stars, take pictures of the moon and enjoy the summer nights. I'll never forget those days. I never really caught anything but being with my Papa and stargazing was some of the best memories I have. Years later, after traveling back and forth from Kansas to the South I was finally coming home to stay for a while and decided it would be a good idea to have my brother tag along on my vacation. Our last stop was Aunt Julie and Uncle Rick's. They took us trout fishing. It was blast!

What has caused me to go on this strange rampage down memory lane? (all about fishing non the less!) Well, I guess being at the Land does that to me. This weekend I went out there with Pop's and the girls. I haven't done that in a long time. I took Prairie, my kitten and used my dad's new weedless hooks. (they are a fisherman's best friend!) My first cast I caught a nice bass. My second cast, a slightly smaller bass. I spent the whole weekend driving the ranger, hanging out with my sisters, cousins and my pops, drinking coffee, and enjoying the summer weather. It was fantastic! I still like high heels, my scarves and my earrings. I like dressing up nice and curling my hair. I like to travel and see the world. I am still a city girl, I am still a princess. But, there is still nothing I like more than pulling my hair up into a messy bun, pulling on my Cabela's hunting boots, grabbing a fishing pole and sitting by the big pond in Grenola KS.

I still like to be considered Uncle Ray's  

"little fishin' buddy."