Broadening My Horizons

My wife, my son and my granddaughter tell me that I live in a confined world. "All you want to do is to go fly-fishing for trout and hunt for wild turkeys in season. You need to broaden your horizons."

"I like to go out to eat whenever I can," I protest. "We go to lots of different places."

"No, we don't," they tell me. My wife is especially forceful about this. "We eat at the same three or four places most of the time. No, Rich, you're a real stick in the mud."

Of course I am hurt by these accusations: I'm willing to do different things.

One recent Thursday afternoon, Bob, my son, called me. "What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?" he asked.

"I'm going fishing. Why?"

"I thought you, Mom, and Amber might like to go somewhere with Tina [his wife] and me."

Thinking he was going to invite me to go to my favorite small restaurant, I replied, "I could adjust my schedule."

"Good. We'll meet you at Water Street. We'll go to Lake Raystown, and you guys can go for a ride on my boat. You've put me off all summer."

Bob had bought a boat with a huge inboard motor over the winter, and he had been urging us to go for a ride on the lake. I really wanted no part of this, but he had trapped me. Besides, Donna and Amber were enthusiastic about taking a ride, so I had to agree to go along.

The next afternoon was a perfect October afternoon: sunny, few clouds, and 75 degrees. It would have been a perfect afternoon for dry-fly fishing for trout. However, I was with my family at Lake Raystown.

After Bob and Tina had launched the boat, we headed out onto the lake, with "Captain Nemo," as I referred to Bob, at the helm. One of the first things that was evident was that the lake was down five or more feet because of the drought. Even so, it would easily have swallowed all of the streams that I like to fish. There were spots along the lake where the leaves were changing, reflecting attractively on the clear water.

We noticed guys fishing in various places, many along the shoreline and a few trolling from big boats in deeper water. I realized that catching fish at Raystown would certainly take much different skill sets than the ones I possess.

The enjoyable afternoon passed quickly. My family was delighted that I had "so willingly" broadened my horizons.