Somehow, @papa-pepper now has over 600 followers. I wanted to do a special post to celebrate, so I am posting on a matter very dear to my heart, but it is also one that I do not mention often.
FAMILY
A lot of the things that I am up to, like gardening and striving for self-sufficiency, are because of my desire to spend more time together with my family. Society tells me that I should be in an office across town, my wife in another office on the other side of town, and my children dispersed across various day-cares and schools.
However, I have a different idea, so I am working towards an alternative goal.
For those of you who know a little bit a bout @papa-pepper, you know that there is more to me than just just peppers, there is also the papa. Last weekend my wife and I just found out that we are pregnant with our 5th child. Here are the four that we already have.
Amazingly these days, my wife and I got married to one another before either of us had any children. Once we started having kids, we had the first three, one at a time, in less than three years. Our son was born about a month before our oldest girl turned three, and we had another girl in-between them. That means that we were pretty much outnumbered from the get-go.
Between my wife and me, we spend a lot of time teaching and training our children, and trying to invest in their future by giving them all the things necessary for them to be able to get the most out of this life. I try to spend time together with the entire family often, but I am also diligent to make sure that I spend some alone time together with each of my children on a regular basis. I just has a wonderful time tickling and playing around with my little girl earlier today for 15 - 20 minutes.
For this post, I will cover some of the time that I recently spent with my son.
Someday, this little guy will vanish into adulthood and the future, and all of the time that I have with him right now will be just a memory. I have one shot to teach this boy how to be a man, and for me to be a proper example of what a husband and father is supposed to be. Accurate representations of these roles are vanishing from the earth, but I at least want to set him up for success.
I, for one, do not want "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin to sum up my life as a father. I'll link it here, but I won't be listening to it. I'd probably start to cry and think about how quickly this life passes away.
Being a solid male role model and an excellent father doesn't happen by accident. I can't just hope everything will be fine and then kick back and go on living my life my way. I have to live my life in a way that invests in these souls and is willing to put their needs ahead of my own. For that reason, I spent some time connecting with my 3 year old son over this past week up in Wisconsin.
Since I don't have any video games, most of our time together was spent outdoors, checking out a variety of plants and animals in the area.
TROUT FISHING
One of the activities that we did together was some trout fishing. Trout fishing can be special enough on it's own, but this time was very sentimental. Since we were at my parents house where I grew up, he was able to go fishing in the same creek that I caught trout in when I was a boy. I remember how exciting it was for me as a chiild, and it was so amazing to see his face light up when he got to see the trout.
My boy was able to dig worms out of the soil in the same places that I used to when I was a boy.
Then, he got to try casting in some of my favorite spots from when I was a boy.
Eventually, the hard work and patience paid off, and in the end, four small Brook Trout were caught.
A WALK IN THE WOODS
Often, when I would take a break at my old job up in Wisconsin, I would head to a local park along a river and catch snakes, turtles, frogs, and salamanders. For me, it was a half hour well spend relaxing in the outdoors. Since my son and I were out in that neighborhood, we decided to stop in and see what we could find.
The camouflage material draped over his shoulder is one of our snake bags. Since you never know what you are going to find, we like to be prepared.
The first creature we found was a Green Frog.
We also found some Wintergreen Berries and I taught him about these tasty wild treats. Besides more common berries like the Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries and Strawberries, I think that Wintergreen Berries were the first wild edible that my dad taught me about. I'll be doing a post in my series THE EDIBLE OUTDOORS about them in the near future.
Another treasure that we found was this tree that had been chopped down by beavers. It is so interesting to realize that the tree was doing just fine until these peculiar mammals crawled up out of the river and gnawed on it!
We never did find any snakes on our walk, but this Blue Spotted Salamander was hiding under a log. They are such interesting amphibians and this area is usually good for a few of them.
As we ventured further upstream, we began to look more in the water, and under the rocks.
This Hellgrammite is a favorite bait among some Trout anglers. Eventually, if it is not eaten, it will turn into a Dobsonfly. They are some huge flying insects that I've mistaken for Sparrows at night before.
Crawfish are another potentially painful creature to encounter. Thankfully, all my older children already know how to properly handle them. If needed, these freshwater crustaceans can provide and excellent meal. I still miss those Crawfish Boils down in New Orleans, but we had one earlier this year in Arkansas, and all the kids enjoyed it too.
We collected some Staghorn Sumac "berries" for another project.
I also showed him how Poison Ivy looks in the fall when it changes colors. Until he points this plant out to me first, I'll keep pointing it out to him. This is one of those conversations that we have had before, but I have no problem having over and over again. I've spent too much of my life covered in it not to warn my own son!
We also found some old turtle nests in a sandy bank. The little leathery shells were all that was left, but it was neat to share the experience with him. It always intrigued me how these aquatic turtles climb up on shore and dig holes to lay their eggs in, and how the sun then incubates them. Hopefully, these shells came from hatched turtles and not from a raccoons midnight snack.
We even found some interesting graffiti. The message of the Lorax rings true these days, especially when we think generationally. How much has my generation screwed up that my son and his children will have to deal with? How many bad things in this world have we fixed so that he won't have to deal with them?
I also like to share wild edibles with my children. The more edible wild plants that they can recognize, the more food they will be able to find outside if the situation ever necessitates that. Here we were checking out some Alfalfa.
Being able to identify important plants like Milkweed can also be beneficial. If my children understand the role that this particular plant plays in the life-cycle of the Monarch butterfly, they will be more likely to realize how important each plant and animal is. The seeds in this pod are ready to fly away and find some new soil, so that they can awaken in the spring and bring forth a new generation of Milkweed plants.
We found a couple of these hoppy guys too. For some reason Toads scare my wife, but thankfully the kids all enjoy them.
Mullein is a plant that we first began to appreciate after we had our fourth child. We now use it as an herbal remedy for various ailments. Often, the kids pick some and bring it home for Mom to dry and store.
My boy was even with me when I finally found some Jackfruit. You can watch me enjoy it for the first time in THIS POST from @anotherjoe. It is once in a lifetime events like this that I will never forget, and I'm glad to have shared the experience with my boy.
I also shared about how acorns become seedlings that eventually grow into giant Oak trees.
And we threw some worms off a bridge and watched the fish gobble them up. This boy really like his worms.
We even found a vending machine with a squirt gun in it, but that story will be shared in another post.
Eventually, we shared a giant ice cream cone at one of my favorite places in my hometown. I know that it looks great, but it gets even better. It's not a traditional twist, it's a Root Beer and Vanilla twist! Yeah, a lot of awesome in a single cone!
CLOSING
I've got a lot of thoughts on being a parent and raising children, and I'll get to sharing them at some point. For now, I just wanted to share a bit about hanging out with my son and spending some great time making memories together.
Thank you to all those who are following me. Over 600 followers is huge, and I appreciate all the support!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper, and here's the proof:
proof-of-time-with-son
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(click link above for more info on Operation Translation.)