You know I said in the title of this blog that it would be a hunting, fishing, and occasional day to day happenings type blog. We have covered some hunting, and also some fishing and will get into allot more. This entry will be one on the day to day happenings side. I have a really good turkey hunting story for you, but it will just have to keep until tomorrow.

I was thumbing through some pictures just last night and came across this one from a trip I took to Panama City, Panama a few years back. We stayed for ten days visiting several different communities and tribes of people who really had things much simpler than we do. You see, they never complained about gas prices......they didn't have any cars. They didn't complain about homework.....they couldn't go to school. They didn't even complain about eating their vegetablas......they seldom had a decent meal to eat. Am I saying that we should be content with paying $3.50 per gallon for gas? Of course not. Sometimes I suppose seeing things in a different light casts a whole new set of shadows, shadows that bring fear and doubt, and these people had been in the dark for so long that there was little reason for hope.....yet they hoped anyway!

I remember driving one day for several hours to get up in the mountain country where the natives lived. We took medical supplies for the parents to administer to their children and we all had been storing bags of candy for situations like this. We pulled up and children met us in the dust of the beaten down path. I can still see the little girl's face, maybe 5 or 6 years old, as she approached me with a toddler striding behind her. I handed her all the candy she could hold, which wasn't much. She wouldn't take much more than a few pieces. She walked back over and sat on the edge of the path and her small brother sat beside her. I watched as this little girl sat and gave her toddler brother every piece of that candy. She got up when it was gone and was walking around looking through empty wrappers sitting on the ground, and after a few minutes of searching, she found a piece that was uneaten. Then I watched as she walked back to her brother and gave him one last piece. It was humbling to put it mildly. It wasn't long until it was time to leave the villiage, but those children remained as snapshots in my memory.

What does this have to do with an outdoor blog you ask? Absolutely nothing I guess. This time it's nothing more than overwhelming emotion from a time of enlightenment. Tonight, hold your children tight. Take the time. They are worth it!