That's My Story

PHOTO 2: For lots of us it started like this. A simple Kodak moment in the sun begins a life-changing experience with our dads and kids.

UNBROKEN CIRCLES

Originally published the Week of June 16, 2009 in Western Outdoor News

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could barely stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished to see how much the old man had learned in 7 years.” Mark Twain

“Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected.” Red Buttons

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One of the great joys of working down here in Baja in the fishing industry is seeing families doing things together. Even moreso, to see the kids and parents interact, but especially for me, watching the dads and their kids or particularly, dads and their sons.

For a lot of us that have come to cherish the Baja, somewhere along the line, our dads played some role in those memories. For many of you, maybe it was dad who hauled you and the family into the old truck or station wagon down that dusty old Baja road.

You may not have even fished at first. Maybe it was just those weekend trips to Tijuana, Rosarito or San Felipe (back in the day!) that got Mexico in your blood. If it wasn’t fishing, then maybe it was a camping or surf trip to some remote beach.

You had an old green aluminum Coleman ice chest (Didn’t we ALL have one of those?). You may or may not have had that musty green canvas tent from Sears Roebuck.

You ALWAYS had a dog-eared copy of the Auto Club travel book plus the AAA map that never re-folded properly. If it was a long trip, you always had rope, a shovel and a roll of toilet paper. Bottled designer water was unheard of, but some of us carried those canvas water bags and plastic jugs of real honest-to-goodness TAP water! And it tasted just fine and no one got sick!

You surely might not have appreciated it then. . .all the things dad had to go through to get that trip underway with or without all the kids or mom. He had to think of everything.
There wasn’t a fallback plan. AM/PM mini marts were not along the way. You may have the map, but Auto Club was not going to come out so he better know how to fix a tire.

Restrooms ? That’s why you brought the toilet paper and shovel. No one grumbled. It’s just the way it was! (Try telling your kids to do that these days!). If you needed air-conditioning, you just rolled down the windows and drove faster. And choked on the Baja dust.

But, now that you’re older and know what it’s like just to get everyone to the movies or Walmart or have mustered your own outdoor trips, you have a special appreciation for what it must have taken for dad to marshall all the troops…and do it generally with a smile.

Only a saint could have listened to another verse of “Wheels On the Bus Go Round-and-Round” coming from the zoo in the seats behind him. “Are we there yet?” “You’re not the boss of me!” “Jimmy is touching me!”

With my own dad, he didn’t get me to Baja. Not initially. When I was a kid, dad got seasick! However, it was his love of fishing, camping and outdoors that got him to impart to me a love for those things as well. He did pile us into the Dodge station wagon many-a-time.

So, in a round-about-way, I’d have never found Baja had my dad not shared those qualities and experiences with me in the first place. When I got older, Baja seemed a natural calling and off-I-went.

Little did I know that I’d later make a life and career down here. And it was me that eventually introduced my dad to Baja and we’ve since shared some wonderful priceless moments together. (His seasickness got better as he got older).

So, it’s with great pleasure that I see dads and sons together. But it’s even more gratifying to see the circle go unbroken as sons grow up and take their own dads fishing and watching the role reversals.

“Dad, don’t worry, I have the tackle.”

“Where’s your jacket? You’ll need a jacket on the boat.”

“ Stop asking. I didn’t forget the beer!”

“Make sure to call mom tonite.”

“Yes, we’ll find you a bathroom. There’s always the shovel!”

“No, I will NOT pull your finger!”

My own dad is coming to visit this week. I will not mind baiting his hook or making sure he brought the sunscreen. I hope he catches more and bigger fish than me. He surely got smarter as I got older!

Happy Father’s Day to you all. Feliz Dia de Los Padres!

If you ever need to reach me, I’m down here in La Paz riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com