A Lucky Man

I loved this blog from Arthur over at SimplyOutdoors.net yesterday and it got me to thinking about some of the special times I’ve shared with my wife in the outdoors. We just passed our fourth wedding anniversary one week ago today, on the 7th this month, and I find that I love her more every day. But, what amazed me early on in our relationship was her excitement for all things outdoors.

Aug. 7, 2004 – My lil’ fishin’ partner

While she didn’t grow up living the kind of life that I knew, she was more than willing to give it a shot. I remember the first fishing trip we went on, she was not able to fish as she was an out of stater, but she thought she’d like to come along and catch some sun. I caught a couple of nice bass and a real nice catfish on that trip, but I’d been a solitary fisherman my entire life, and I’m afraid I was not as kind to her or as patient as I should have been, and I was somewhat surprised when she said she’d had fun and wanted to actually fish next time. Well, it didn’t work out that way. A week before our wedding, I was up in her home state of Washington and I was getting the fishing itch – it’s chronic and there’s no cure, but it is managed by numerous trips to the water for some good fishing. We decided it would be fun to go up to nearby Sun Lakes and try to catch some bass or perch – again, though, she didn’t grow up in the same lifestyle as I did, so she still didn’t have a fishing license. Instead of springing the money for a one day license, she opted to catch some sun again while I donated a little cash to the Washington Fish & Game for my one day license. The fishing was slow that day, but I managed to catch a few fish and Shanna was beginning to see what kind of fun fishing can be.

Our family portrait while living in Oregon – 2005

After we got married, we moved to Oregon, and my wife got to go on her very first real fishing trip. We hadn’t planned this trip – like most things in our marriage, it was a fly by the seat of our pants kind of ordeal! We tend to be very impulsive – which did not do great things for our credit card debt early on! Shanna had been sick earlier that week with the stomach flu, and then I got it towards the end of the week. It was not pretty, but it was spring and I was sick on Friday – but spring means fishing and spring plus a Saturday means I have to go fishing. So, I woke up Saturday morning still not feeling real great, but I made the suggestion that we go fishing. Off we went to a remote place called Dry Creek. Dry Creek is located in the rough Owyhee canyons and is only accessed by miles of rough and bumpy dirt roads. We got in there and I was feeling a little green around the gills, but was enjoying my first fishing trip with my new bride, anyways! Shanna proceeded, then, to completely out fish me. Not just a little bit, but complete domination – and I don’t know if a better scenario could have happened, because she became a little fisher woman that day! I lost count of how many fish she actually caught, but it was a lot – and I can tell you easily how many I caught – one. I don’t know how she could catch so many while I only caught one, but I’m glad that it gave her the fishing bug! I have some great photos from that trip, but she’s wearing a bikini top in all of them, and I’m fairly certain I’d be dead meat if I posted pictures of her in a bikini on the internet! Since that day, we’ve shared many great experiences in the outdoors from fishing and camping in the high country to hunting elk and deer in the mountains and deserts of Eastern Oregon.

I’m thankful to have found such a great fishing partner and a truly wonderful woman to spend the rest of my days with – happy anniversary just a week late, Hon.

On a hiking trip in the Seven Devils – 2007