Ducks, Dogs And Kids…Photos From Minnesota’s 2013 Youth Waterfowl Hunt

Check out this photo essay from the 2013 Minnesota Youth Waterfowl Hunt this past Saturday.   With temps pushing near 90 degrees it was day better suited for drinking ice-cold lemonade rather than hot chocolate in the blind.   Nevertheless, the kids, the dogs and the adults were just glad to finally be out hunting.   Enjoy!

IMG_5597

IMG_5596

IMG_5601

IMG_5594

IMG_5620

IMG_5627

IMG_5625

IMG_5628

IMG_5631

IMG_5633

IMG_5634

IMG_5646

IMG_5650

IMG_5663

IMG_5685
(Images courtesy of Todd Rost)

©2013 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

Doing The Things That Count In Life

Ziglar

I haven’t been the most active on this blog site over the past few years and for that I do NOT apologize.   What you say?   If you’re serious about blogging why in heaven’s green earth are you not sorry?

It’s simple.   I have been enjoying my time being a dad first and foremost.

Now, I know what you’re about to say.   Well, many people have been dads before me and will be so after me.   I get that.   I understand that.   I also know there are many fathers who will not let raising their kids get in the way of their next fishing or hunting trip.   I certainly respect that…but things are different for me at this stage of my life.

I became a biological father at the ripe old age of 45 and I contend that being an older father makes you see the world just a bit differently.   Oh, that’s not to take anything away from those dads in their 20’s who try to do it all juggling both a family and an active outdoors life.   But when you’re older I think you recognize the choices you make are more important.   At fatherhood, you get one chance to do it right.   In the outdoors if you screw up…well, you can try it again next season to do it better.

IMG_0379Processed

When I was actively blogging on a much more regular basis I would be doing so evenings after supper or mornings before going to work.   Now I find these precious moments absorbed in fixing toys, getting kids ready and off to school, you know…the typical dad things.   But rather than rush through them to move on to other tasks…I find myself totally immersed in being there for my sweet 5y/o daughter.

You see, when I was just 10 years old I lost my dad.   My dad was great, but he was active and very busy in life.   Oh, sure, I got to know him for only a short period of my life, but it certainly was tragically cut short when I lost him.

I have no regrets.   My dad was the sort of family man trying to scrape a living and make a better future for his family.   He worked hard.   He laughed hard.   And he wasn’t always there for me when I needed him.   But I understood.

When you are in your 20’s and perhaps your 30’s you feel that life centers around you and that you’ve made lots of sacrifices in life to get to where you’re at…now it’s time to reap the rewards.   Sure, that continues to be true in your 40’s and 50’s, but with that increasing maturity you also come to realize that it’s not always the what in life that is important, but the who.

In my little girl I see a child hungering for attention from her daddy much like I once did from my father.

I will still try to make posts to this blog as often as I possibly can, but understand what counts in life is not how many words you put in your blog during the course of the year.   Nope, instead…what truly matters is how you spent your time doing the things that count in life.

When I am absent from this blog you can rest assured I am spending quality time with my little buddy.   That said…are you doing the things that truly count in your life?   Tell me about them in the comments below.

©2013 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.