Mom

Doug Leier posted on April 20, 2006 12:02 :: 4544 Views

Like my grandmother, I don't remember my mom really hunting or fishing much more than holding the rod or accompanying us on a trip.

Beyond consideration as a hunter or angler, Ma Leier spends more time outdoors than looking out the window. She probably never was told how much her contribution to hunting and fishing made me enjoy it. Even to this day, I'll take a hearty lunch in the field over any stuffy kind of restaurant table fare and that’s thanks to mom.

There's just something about a ham and cheese sandwich, an assortment of chips, and the dessert – cookies, bars or both, combined with fresh air and even a misplaced piece of grass caught in my teeth.

Indeed, field lunch will always be a priority for this outdoorsman, and I thank mom for wrapping up her love and sending it along each trip.

This brings me to my wife, the mother of my son and daughter, who by her own definition is the anti-outdoors woman. But she deserves more credit. While Annie Oakley she's not, she loves to fish and enjoys spending time on the other side of the window.

While camping for a week someplace other than in a motel may be a stretch, she loves the outdoors in her own special way and our kids too are on their way to experiencing a life filled with bugs, frogs, fish and whatever else wiggles or makes funny noises.

Doug Leier about Mom I can't imagine she'll ever meet me at the door to dress and clean the morning kill, but she's already catching onto the tips on packing lunch for the field – like when you've filled the cooler, you still need a little more.

We spend summer days catching bluegills with our children and once her fear of kids falling through ice-fishing holes is passed, we'll introduce them to hard water fishing too.

My wife also understands the benefit of kids who would rather be outdoors than in. It may not always be about catching fish, hunting ducks or catching creepy crawlers. There have been days we've just loaded up and gone down to the river, if for nothing else than reassurance that yes, indeed, it's still flowing.

For many who don’t hunt or fish it may appear to be all about antlers, whoppers or filling a limit. I'd say maybe they'd change their mind if they shared field lunch with me and the kids, packed with love by mom.

This brings me to my daughter, at the ripe age of one and a half. Who knows whose footsteps she’ll follow, but needless to say the tracks already lead outdoors.

As we celebrate Mothers Day, thanks to all of you for putting up with those muddy boots, and for the lunch, too.