 Northwoods Vacationland Album |
Promoting Happier Living Through Fond Memories ... Site Map |
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Northwoods Vacationland Album |
Promoting Happier Living Through Fond Memories ... Site Map |
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Kenny at the River with Mike and Papa Dick How do the generations in a family come to know each other? One way this can happen is to take your grandchild to a place that has special meaning for you and spend some one-on-one time talking about a an interest you are eager to share with them. Papa Dick chose the Mississsippi River for such an outing with grandson Mike. Papa Dick is a duck hunter and has for years had a shack, built with five other friends, in Buffalo City, Wisconsin. Several years ago, Dick met Kenny, an authentic man of the river. Kenny is most at home along or on the river, in the woods or in his one room shack on the river's edge. He is a hunter and trapper, an environmentalist, a poet and philosopher. Kenny is a lover of dogs and critters, as he calls them, and is a sentimental and tender man. He is also a member of the Slow Talkers of America. For many years he has combined his interest in children and young adults with his passion about the area of the country where he lives. He is a master storyteller and no matter how slow he may be talking, his audiences in schoolrooms and nature reserves are captivated. Some years ago, Papa Dick and Kenny sat down with a tape recorder between them and Kenny told some of his stories while Papa Dick encouraged him by asking questions. Papa Dick wanted to do this to preserve the stories for his young grandchildren. Since both men can really spin a yarn, the tapes are delightful. When Mike was eight,Papa Dick decided that he and Kenny would introduce him to the river and swampland areas, encouraging Mike to discover for himself the reverence and love of nature they both have. The deal was made and the day came. One spring day, dressed much like Papa Dick, in a flannel shirt and canvas pants with high rubber boots, Mike left with his grandfather. An inexpensive camera was slung around his neck and explorer's hats completed their outfits. That day might well have helped forge Mike's future. It certainly instilled in him the developing values of appreciation for nature and knowledge of animals as seen through Kenny's eyes. He saw in Kenny a man who had chosen not to be confined to the spaces and expectations of others and that appealed to Mike. Imagine having a career that was mostly spent out of doors! Kenny also talked about how important reading and education are in preparation for a life of you own choosing. I don't find it a coincidence that in the last four years Mike has become an avid reader, excellent student and now talks about a career in the Australian outback,. When Mike returned home he started decorating his small playhouse with the treasures he had found or Kenny had given him. Turtle shells, a raccoon tail, feathers and beaver teeth now adorn his room. Not surprisingly, Mike's playhouse bears some resemblance to Kenny's shack. Kenny's shack consists of a single room with bunks along one side The walls are filled with all manner of interesting things: some cookware, skulls, pelts, pictures, hornet nests, favorite sayings, dried plants and herbs and notes from children who have heard him speak. A small wood stove, necessary kindling, table and chairs and many books make it a magical place. It's a place of peace and quiet, a place to palaver, as Kenny would say, a place to read and think about what's really important in one's life. As the three of them were standing near the shack and looking out at the river, Kenny told them a story about two wild Canadian geese that came back year after year. Kenny named them Big Boy and Beauty. Every spring their return was greeted by Kenny and through the years he watched them raise their young until autumn came and they migrated with a flock to a warmer climate. Kenny is a trapper and some of his traps were in the vicinity of the nesting geese. One day the unexpected happened and Big Boy caught one webbed foot in a trap. By the time Kenny realized what was happening, Big Boy was frantically swimming under water in a futile attempt to rid himself of this dreadful object. A distraught Beauty was honking and flying in circles over the roiled water. Jumping in his canoe, Kenny started the grand chase to free Big Boy. When he was within inches of the big bird, Big Boy would lunge forward or dive under the water. Beauty never gave up her honking vigil in the sky above the remarkable drama below. After a time, when Big Boy was utterly exhausted and probably near death, Kenny reached down and freed him. The last vision Kenny had of the pair of geese that day was seeing them together on a mud flat -- a drake and his mate with her protective wing around his haggard body. Geese mate for life. Excerpt from
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