Saturday, July 14, 2007

Gone Fish’n

By Keith Fisher

We’re hosting 70 or so this week in a family reunion so I didn’t have time to edit. Please excuse this rough draft.

Last week, I took my daughter fishing. She’s nine and she’s a girly girl. She likes catching fish but she says ewww a lot when she disembowels them.

Judging by how much she nags me to take her fishing, I think she’s wise beyond her years. She knows she needs to capture moments with her dad before he can’t make them anymore.

At one point during our day together, she got bored and decided she wanted to fish with a lure. She was continually casting out and reeling in, when she hooked a big one. I enjoyed helping her with the struggle of landing it, but I noticed it was harder than it should’ve been. When she pulled the fish close to shore I discovered the reason why.

She had hooked the fish by the dorsal fin and had to pull it sideways through the water. It wasn’t an easy task, but she did it. Stupid fish, I thought. It didn’t know enough to get out of the way of the goofy looking man made bobble.

She said, "That was awesome." I said, "Yes it was awesome. My heart was full.

I began to think of all our life’s awesome moments, tucked away in our brains. Many people wish they could retrieve those moments from their gray matter in order to share with future generations. But they never do it, thinking they can’t write.

As writers we have the talent, and we’re developing the skill to tell the stories and transplant the feelings that go with them. It is our blessing to share those moments with our posterity. Or we can transform them into fiction and share it with everyone.

There are millions of moments writers draw from to tell a story that will touch the hearts of their readers. We all have similar moments in our memories. I hope you can use the moments to write a story that sparks a memory. While you’re at it, Live life and make a memory.

3 comments:

Candace Salima . . . the LDS Nora Roberts said...

Keith, what a great blog today. Reminded me to stop and notice the small precious things in life that build those great memories. It also reminded me to remember why I love to write! Thanks!

Stephanie said...

Thanks for the great reminder to appreciate the little things of life. Sometimes I spend too much time writing about the big things. Yours was a good reminder to remember every moment.

Nichole Giles said...

Keith,
That is a beautiful reminder of why we do what we do. I believe there is a reason we are compelled to tell whatever stories we tell. Like someone is pushing us along, not letting us out of this very important task we have been given.

And what better way than to remind us to take a break and spend time with our children?

Nichole