Gone fishing

Three other fathers and I took our kids fishing at a nearby trout farm this past Sunday.  We put seven boys in two cars and endured their confined energy until we could release them on the pond and let them tangle their lines on one another for the next three hours. 

It wasn't exactly real fishing of course.  We spent a sizable portion of our time detangling lines and repairing rods and stopping for snacks and cleaning up disasters, but there were so many fish in the pond that we couldn't help but catch our share.  My two guys were certainly both thrilled to catch a fish, and so the day was at least a success in that respect.

It was also a success in another respect, however, in that I discovered, somewhere between cutting yet another tangle and refitting yet another rod, a real pleasure in teaching my kids to cast and helping them net their first big fish, even if catching the fish wasn't much beyond shooting them in a barrel.  Despite my low expectations, it was an afternoon that they'll remember, and one that I'll remember too.