Dan’s Landing
I like the name of it – Dan’s Landing. If there was true justice in this fallen
world, it should be a canoe launch on some remote northern lake with great
shoreline flyfishing, or a put-in point on a wild stream brimming with
cascading rapids and hungry wild trout.
But, the reality of the situation is that Dan’s Landing is at the top of
the steps leading to the upstairs bedrooms of our house.
When the children that used to fill those bedrooms
were young, the landing at first was just a pass through to the bedrooms. Later, it held a small table, an office chair
and our home computer. With the children
all grown now with homes and families of their own, I claimed the space as a
safe haven. If anyone, for any
unimagined reason, would want to know who I am, or who I was, Dan’s Landing
would be a great place to start.
On the wall there are wildlife paintings. One is of chickadees. I have watched eagles soar. I have hunted grouse, and woodcock, wild
turkeys, ringneck pheasants, Hungarian partridge in Wisconsin, and even
Gambrel’s quail in Nevada, but my favorite bird is the chickadee, hence the
portrait. Chickadees are perpetual
energy and motion. This little tuft of
feathers is ever undaunted. I especially
have enjoyed watching them from my deer stand.
I have watched chickadees pass through, hopping tree to tree, branch to
branch in the midst of icy November rain, through slanting snow and in frigid bitter
temperatures – always buzzing their telltale song: “chick-a-dee-dee-dee”. I have had them land on my hat, on my
shoulder, on my arrow and even on the barrel of my rifle. You can’t take life or yourself overly
seriously with chickadees nearby.
You would quickly discern that I have a soft heart for
outdoor things with stories to tell. My
dad’s Shakespeare casting rod is propped up with some whitetail antlers. The rod is solid fiberglass; the first fiberglass
fishing pole ever on the market. I took
it to a man who specializes in buying and selling old fishing gear just out of
curiosity. He said it was only worth
about six dollars because there were so many of them made, and the quality was
so high that many thousands still survive.
I am sure he was right about that, but I can look at it, close my eyes and
watch my father reeling in yet another perch – his favorite fish to catch and
eat. It is good to know the worth of
something, and the value of something, because most often they are not the same
thing.
There are a number of old fishing lures. Several are perch-colored ‘pikie minnow’
lures I collected because my dad kept one in his old metal tackle box. I also have the boxes they came in denoting
they came from the Creek Chub Bait Company of Garrett Indiana. There is a shadow box on a bookshelf that holds two Heddon
red and white casting plugs from the 1950’s.
They were in a tackle box that belonged to one of my wife’s uncles. His wife gave me the tackle box after he
passed away, and I discovered the two treasures inside. I mounted them and put them on display even
though I know they would certainly still catch fish, but I can’t risk losing
them as I have a habit of doing with fishing lures (usually in overhanging tree
branches, underwater structure, and even very occasionally, in the jaw of an
escaping fish).
The other bookshelf is filled with faith-related
books. My faith has always been an important part of
me. Now, as an ordained deacon, it is also publicly part of my identity. While many others
know that, there are items amongst the books that remind me of intense faith experiences
that I’ve had, known only by God and me, and it is most likely going to stay
that way.
His Peace <><
Deacon Dan
Comments
Post a Comment