Offspring.

It's been brought to my attention by a friend of mine that my desire to ramble and sample and see different things in different places is more or less a pipe dream for those who have children.

I realize that I have certain freedoms in my life currently that many people do not. I do not have kids. Now, seeing as how I am kidless, the last thing I'm going to do is preach about what can and can't be done if you have kids.

I have never been a parent, but I have been a kid with parents. I've been a kid who's parents took him outside at an early age.

One of my fondest early memories are of me, my dad, and my uncle (my dad and uncle are both fantastic fly fishermen) sitting at the Montauk Lodge on breakfast bar stools having a plate of biscuits and gravy before we drive up to the Spring Hole to start the day. I was eight or nine probably, waders three sizes too big for me. But even at a young age, I knew that these two guys were really good at what they did--which happened to be fly fishing. And they treated me with the respect of not only an "apprentice" so to speak, but more so an equal.

I have extremely early, vague memories of going out into the lake in a boat with my family. I was too young to fish, but I still have memories of it. I remember the inside of the aluminum boat. Dad casting towards the bank. Sitting on my mom's lap. It was really windy, so I remember hunkering down inside the boat. I was two...and I still remember it.

I have endless memories of growing up that would most certainly be considered rambling. The two stories above, to me, are proof that you can still ramble around to different places and check out different things that are out there...even if you have kids. My folks did.

If one day I ever have children, I plan on including them as much as I can in my (our) little adventures. It doesn't matter how young they are, they'll remember it in some sense. And whether they realize it or not, it will help shape who they are. At least it did with me.

The art of rambling is different for me now than it will be when I have kids. But I do not intend to stop. I just plan on adjusting. Sure, you've got to go to soccer games and Lego Land, but there's no reason you can't take your kiddos to the lake, to the river, on a hike, or on a little roadtrip.

Ramble with the fam, and let me know how it goes. I'm going to be adjusting my rambling styles sooner than later, so I would definitely like to hear your stories.

That's my ramble for the day...in one definition of the term.



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