Dad’s Always Around (169/365/2023)

60

I was working in the garden and wanted to bend a small pine tree. Some fishing line and a small bit of fabric to protect the tree was all I needed, and I asked Kirk if he had any fishing line.

To be clear, neither one of us fishes…but fishing line is useful enough that there is usually some somewhere in the house.

Kirk went into the garage and rustled around for a bit and then came out and told me to go through the two boxes on the counter that he’d pulled down.

The two boxes in question were old tackle boxes of my Dad’s that my brother had kept for me when he was cleaning out Dad’s house years ago. They’d been put up on some top shelf, maybe some day one of us would open them…..

Eventually I did, but not to go fishing.

When I dug into the first box, the first thing my eyes landed on was the fishing knife, and it brought a smile, because if there was one thing my Dad was NEVER without…..pretty much at any time, in any circumstance, it was a pocket knife. Dad bought me a few pocket knives over the years, a couple of Swiss Army knives, and a Leatherman…..I still have that Leatherman and it still gets used.

The knife is simple, one straight blade…still razor sharp, and a scaler. That won’t go back into the box.

I rooted around, cautious of the many barbed hooks within, and found a spool of fishing line.

100 yards of 40lb line.

When did Dad ever need that!

Most of his fishing was either out at our cabin at Summit Lake, usually from the canoe, or he was fly fishing on the Crooked River, or somewhere else. Typically he was fishing for rainbow trout or lake charr. And to be fair, some of the charr he brought in were over 25lbs…but 40lb line? Well, he may have gone fishing with my Uncle once or twice on the coast.

I loved that the line was from Woodward. Our then local department store in PG, with the best food floor, and the bakery with the absolute best butterhorn danishes ever. And the bear claws were pretty tasty too. I remember that you bought your groceries and they loaded the cart and gave you a hard plastic card with a number on it. You’d go get your car and drive along the side of the building and there was someone there who would take your card, go retrieve your cart, and load it all into your trunk.

Very civilized.

But when is the last time you could buy 100 yards of 40lb fishing line for 49 cents?

So a garden task turned into a little trip down memory lane.

I like when little surprises like this happen.

Happy Father’s Day Dad.

Miss you.