Birthday Outing

"Asher didn't get to paddle," Nathaniel remembered, just after we all stepped out of the canoe. "Come on, Asher," he continued, handing a paddle to his 6-year-old brother and turning back toward the beached boat. The leftover pizza we'd brought to the pond for dinner could wait a few more minutes.

Nathaniel held the canoe in place while Asher walked to the back and sat down in the "driver's seat," and then he pushed the boat off and took his place on the front seat, facing backward on the seat to he could better coach his brother.

Once quick lap around the pond with patient instruction from his brother was all it took to give Asher a great sense of accomplishment and a bigger thill than he gained from any of the six fish he had caught. I saw it as a gift from Nathaniel during Nathaniel's birthday outing.

For the second year in a row, we camped at some friends' property on Nathaniel's birthday, fishing that evening and the next morning as well. Asher joined the first part -- fishing, paddling and eating pizza -- before his mom came and picked him up. Then Nathaniel and I moved the boat to a beaver pond on the same property, where we fished till dark and then camped, with him in a backpack tent and me in the bed of the truck.

The weather was as pretty as the frogs' and crickets' songs, and the fish bit well. It was a great outing for all.