This morning I was drug out of bed at 5:15am by my oldest son! Dad, Dad its time to get up and get ready! There was no way I wanted to get up this morning and go duck hunting. This is his passion and drive for hunting. Mikey for some reason just loves those ducks and geese. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind it, but that wasn’t the most important thing on my mind this morning. 

     So I begrudgingly got out of bed and pulled on my camo base layer and headed down stairs. He was bright eyed and bushy tailed, rippin’ and roarin’ to go. I managed to put on my Mossy Oak Duck Blind camo and then pour a cup of coffee that I warmed up in the microwave. Next I grabbed a Pop-tart and headed for the door. He already had my truck keys out and had the pickup and boat loaded. I give him credit, when it comes to those birds he has his stuff together. If it was school that would be a whole other issue!

     We made our way to the lake and I was starting to wake up and actually think about where we were going. I asked him where he wanted to hunt on the lake that morning and he gave me the whole run down of what was going to take place. I give him credit, he had it together this morning.

     We got on the water and headed out, once we got to the spot he wanted to set up at, we put everything in place. It was about a half hour before shooting light so I laid down on the old blind we set up on. I looked skyward and I could see his silhouette against the sky and he was talking to me about things other than hunting. It was then that I realized, this ain’t all bad! I’m setting out in the outdoors with my oldest son and he wants to be there with me. Not only that he is carrying on a conversation with me like an adult. What a great morning to be with him. Glad I didn’t pass up on this opportunity to spend it with him before school. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, every Wednesday morning his school doesn’t start until 9:30am, so don’t think that I let him play hooky. This gives us an opportunity to spend it on the water in the fall doing some duck hunting.

     We spend too much time worrying about money, finances, work, and life in general. We need to appreciate the small things in life that are really the big things and most important to us if we are smart. Spend time with family while you still can, one day they will either be gone or grown up doing their own thing.

     Thanks son for waking me up this morning and taking me out with you to the duck blind. If you want to hear how we did, you will have to read my hunting journal later on.