Fishing and Freedom

My parents were lifelong fishing enthusiasts. Anywhere they could wet a hook earned visits from them, whether local creeks, rivers, lakes, ponds, or places farther from home.

It was often from the bank of a river in Perry County, Mississippi. And of course they took me along. I was enthusiastic about catching, but short on exercising patience when the fish weren't biting. 

As pre-schoolers, my cousin Victor and I always found something to do when Mother and her sisters gathered at the river for fishing and a morning gab fest.

Vic and I loved playing in the huge vacant field where the parents parked their cars. When the adults trekked to the bank of the river, they left us in the field. We thought we were totally free from any adult supervision. 

Years later I was talking to Mother about those adventures. She said the adults always knew exactly where we were and what we were up to. They were far from being helicopter parents. 

One of our favorite things was catching the abundant tiny frogs that populated the field. I remember catching dozens. 

We always found a couple of empty cans that had been discarded. We filled them up with those little frogs. 

I have no memory of our mothers ever letting us take any of those frogs home with us. I assume the mothers insisted that we release our captured frog friends.

Now almost 80 years later, I wondered if that field had been developed. And would I even recognize that long-ago site of childhood adventures. 

Thanks to Hubby for a recent excursion that took us past the field which had seemed enchanted when I was four years old.

Of course that field has changed. Although it has not been developed, half of it closest to the river looks to be heavily wooded. A cousin who lives in the area clued me on on why that field of childhood adventures was never developed. It is prone to flooding.

The adult me no longer has any desire to explore that field or chase down frogs, little or otherwise. I do, however, cherish the patience of a spouse who treated me to a road trip to travel back in time.

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