Outdoor Parents: Creating Family Culture

Here's some math for you: Two people get married and become one. Somehow in that oneness they eventually become three (I'll leave that multiplication process for "health class"). Now when those two people became one, they brought two family cultures together. Then there is a process of converting those two different cultures into one new culture. That process takes a while, but eventually it irons out (but not always).

If those two people that become one have a love for the outdoors that definitely becomes a part of the new family culture - and that is a good thing.

From the beginning our family of one loved the outdoors. Trips to Dryden area lakes fishing from a boat and through the ice. In fact our honeymoon took place at Peck's Evergreen Lodge on Eagle Lake. (I'm such a romantic!) We fished for walleye every day and cooked them up in our little cabin where we got to play house for the very first time.

One hot, sticky July evening we got caught in a thunderstorm and almost became one of those tragic honeymoon-couple statistics. But God must have had plans for us because we rode the wind, waves and rain in our little fishing boat back to safety.

About 19-months later along came an addition to our family. A little fisher-girl. When she was old enough to walk our family of 3.5 went on a "short hike" to a river where we could fish from shore. Antonietta (7-months pregnant) carried the cooler, held Nicolette's hand, and tiny Erin in her tummy; although once Nicolette got to ride on Antonietta's shoulders the baby (and cooler) didn't feel so tiny anymore. I carried the fishing gear (what a nice guy) and kept an eye on our dog, Czar - a great dane/labrador cross. 

I think we harvested a paltry catch of two walleye that day - and as an added bonus, our dog Czar rolled in something dead and rotting. As he weighed upwards of 100-pounds that was a lot of stink. We also had a brand-new Ford Bronco, and the thought of putting old Czar in that fresh-smelling new vehicle was appalling. But somehow we managed to get back to our home in Thunder Bay holding our noses the entire way. 

I believe this trip was the beginning of our outdoor family culture. One of challenges, laughs, and even disappointments - but always memorable.  

Let the games begin!