Adventures!
Unintentional 4 Wheeling »
Posted on September 25, 2010Our Jimmy has over 165K miles on it and has taken us over many a mountain. In this clip, you’ll see, that the descent down the pass was much more aggressive than the climb up. The camping rack in the hitch made things even trickier and had to be taken off on one occasion. Overall, it was rather unnerving but a great adventure in retrospect. Next time, we will rent a Jeep!
Berry Picking with Jimmy and Michael »
Posted on September 25, 2010Going berry picking with Jimmy and Michael reminded me of the importance of patience, flexibility and having an AdventureDad mind set when you’re with your preschool child. Dealing with the changing desires and emotions of a preschooler as well as changes in your original plans requires a large measure of adaptability. It also reminded me of how working together with your hands can be a great way to bond and the perfect conditions for connecting emotionally. My son and I had several calming moments at Tim’s farm after 9/11 and several other difficult times in our lives. If you watch the whole clip, you’ll also meet a dad who followed his bliss into a new life!
Trap Shooting with T and Hjordis »
Posted on September 25, 2010
Some of my favorite memories and connecting points with my dad, and now my son, were when we went shooting. There are so many sights and sounds involved, all of which take me to a place of familiarity, relaxation, and joy. Not to mention the thrill of hitting the target or the even bigger thrill of watching your child hit their first target!
This past weekend, we had the joy of taking my friend T and his teen daughter Hjordis on a trap shooting adventure at the Family Shooting Center in Cherry Creek State Park just south of Denver. Being only her second experience with shooting trap, it was a great new adventure for the two of them. As such, you can watch the learning experience going on for Hjordis and her working through her initial frustrations and later successes.
A public shooting center is a great place to learn if you are new to the sport. Everything you need can be rented. A staff of young people are available to help you with every aspect of the equipment and most importantly, safety.
In the future, Alex and I are hoping to try sporting clays where you walk through a field and clays come flying out at different angles as you walk along. We’ve heard that it’s a big challenge and a whole lot of fun.
Finally, in posting this adventure, we know that not all dads and moms are going to be comfortable with shooting guns and have strong ethical beliefs on such activities (especially with kids). In the future, I will be doing a longer piece in the Reflections section of AdventureDad.org on this topic. For now, I simply want to stress that gun sports begin and end with the safe and proper storage/use of weapons. Gun locks, vaults and no ammunition stored near guns are essential for your children’s safety and the safety of your child’s friends. Accidental gun shootings are still a major cause of death in children.
Dreaming Above Telluride »
Posted on September 25, 2010Good morning my son. I will say good morning to you many times for the rest of your life but now you are not quite able to understand it. You are just months in the womb and I hope that as I talk to you each day, my mouth against your mother’s stomach, that you will recognize my voice when you finally enter this world.
I am starting my journal to you for several reasons. I need a space to reflect upon what it means to be a father, a place to ponder your creation and all of the emotional experiences that I will be going through. Hopefully, by understanding the experiences better, I will be more enlightened about what it means to be a father.
I am also writing this so that one day I can share it with you as a memoir of your earliest days. I hope that my reflections will give you a greater sense of your roots and remind you of how much you are loved as you become a man someday. One of my favorite philosophers is Soren Keirkegard who said: “Life must be lived forward, but understood backwards.” If you understand where you come from, I believe you will be centered and strengthened for your own journey in life.