The trip...
So... there are ideas, wishes, hopes and dreams for this trip, none of which are concrete. I suppose nebulous is a good word to describe what in the Sam hill will emerge. The just of it is this: My dad and I are fishing nuts. I just finished my Master's degree, and my father is retired. Before I started school in Washington my dad and I took some time to fish our way out to the Pacific Northwest, my dad from Wisconsin, myself from Michigan. Somewhere in Montana the idea of fishing for 6 months or so after grad school was thrown out there. Naturally I bit.
...And that is where we are at. 2011. Two years of school work, deadlines, loans, and no pay, I have emerged. Broke through the grad school meniscus if you will. Broke as well.
Back to the trip. The planning of this trip was done in the manner of two strong willed folks living two-thousand miles apart, that is to say it was done separately, with minimal communication or what any respectable person would actually consider 'planning'. The original idea stemmed from the fact that my life journey had brought me to the west coast by way of Bellingham, WA. While my fathers life journey so to speak began on the east coast via New Castle, New Brunswick. Fishing and family is what connected the two. The point of the trip was to connect the beginning with the present. Obviously fishing had been a major influence on both our lives. We had done a great deal of that fishing together however, over the years as we have aged and watched the time and distance mount between us, we had accumulated a good deal of fishing experience apart. It has gotten to the point that most of the stories we told, didn't include the pronouns we or us. And I suppose that is life. We can be grateful for the time we have together and the experiences we share, and we can be excited and eager to tell the stories of our time apart. But with this trip, we can do something about that. Stories when "I" or "he" did this or that, can be recast and retold as when "we" did this or that.
Perhaps a more savvy duo would have and itinerary, a final product of sort. Well, I will do you one better (better than a final product?) a rough draft. Yep, a rough draft. You see, final products are just that, they are final. Rough drafts can be altered, revised (I suppose life is a rough draft). The best I can do is tell you this: The trip will start in Washington and we would like it to end in New Brunswick some time later....And we will fish.
Check back to find out what the heck we've been up to. Maybe when I figure out how, I will add a map. Don't hold your breath.
Loves,
Paul Jr.
...And that is where we are at. 2011. Two years of school work, deadlines, loans, and no pay, I have emerged. Broke through the grad school meniscus if you will. Broke as well.
Back to the trip. The planning of this trip was done in the manner of two strong willed folks living two-thousand miles apart, that is to say it was done separately, with minimal communication or what any respectable person would actually consider 'planning'. The original idea stemmed from the fact that my life journey had brought me to the west coast by way of Bellingham, WA. While my fathers life journey so to speak began on the east coast via New Castle, New Brunswick. Fishing and family is what connected the two. The point of the trip was to connect the beginning with the present. Obviously fishing had been a major influence on both our lives. We had done a great deal of that fishing together however, over the years as we have aged and watched the time and distance mount between us, we had accumulated a good deal of fishing experience apart. It has gotten to the point that most of the stories we told, didn't include the pronouns we or us. And I suppose that is life. We can be grateful for the time we have together and the experiences we share, and we can be excited and eager to tell the stories of our time apart. But with this trip, we can do something about that. Stories when "I" or "he" did this or that, can be recast and retold as when "we" did this or that.
Perhaps a more savvy duo would have and itinerary, a final product of sort. Well, I will do you one better (better than a final product?) a rough draft. Yep, a rough draft. You see, final products are just that, they are final. Rough drafts can be altered, revised (I suppose life is a rough draft). The best I can do is tell you this: The trip will start in Washington and we would like it to end in New Brunswick some time later....And we will fish.
Check back to find out what the heck we've been up to. Maybe when I figure out how, I will add a map. Don't hold your breath.
Loves,
Paul Jr.
