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Posted By Katie On June 13, 2012 8 Comments

Girls bait their own hooks

Filed Under: Family Values, Small Town Living Tagged With: family fun, fishing, North Dakota, rural life 8 Comments

It was my first date with my now husband. Dinner was complete and it seemed to be going too well. It had been one week since we had been introduced while traveling on business. I knew in the back of my mind this might be fate. But I was jaded and didn’t want to let down my guard to believe it in only a week. We walked down Broadway in downtown Fargo, North Dakota and stopped to sit down and visit more in the lounge at Hotel Donaldson, “The HoDo” to the locals. Nathan smiled at me and said, “I have to tell you that my college friends and I came up with some key questions we have to ask any date we have.” I was intrigued and of course insisted he asked the “key” questions. 
First question, “Do you eat meat?” Yes was my answer. He already had seen me chow down my dinner. Unabashedly, I eat meat. 
The second “key” question. I awaited with excitement. Then Nathan said, “Can you pee in the woods?” Yes, yes I can. But really this was a corporate ladder climbing, fancy suit wearing, Volvo driving, clean cut guy who had met me just hours before on my front step, 200 miles from his home with red roses for our first date. His questions were throwing me off a bit. Certainly, the next questions were going to touch on my intellect, interests, dreams and/or goals. 

Then, the third question was “Can you bait your own hook?”
I laughed now, replying, “If you mean digging up some night crawlers or catching minnows and putting them on a hook to catch fish, yes, absolutely yes.”

After the three questions I didn’t even care what the fourth question would be. I knew behind this corporate ladder climbing, soft spoken man was a rugged outdoorsman. The combination of both made my heart flutter. Our interests meshed and merged. I didn’t fish much beyond the dam down the road from our family farm. The only fishing pole I had was an antique. But I knew this man loved the same land I loved. He camped and fished the same areas I knew. I was smiling so tightly from ear to ear that my dimples on my cheeks actually hurt.

The simple questions had sealed our first date for me.
The fourth and final question was, “Do you like my dog? I have a yellow lab, Charlie.” He should have said  “Do you like my dog child, Charlie?” I was used to yellow labs as hunting and farm dogs. But yes, I could easily like Charlie.

Today, I love Charlie.
Nearly seven years after that first date and the key questions and almost exactly five years since we moved deep into the heart of the prairie to his hometown, Nathan and I were on the boat last Saturday night with our two young girls and his parents. We were fishing on a local prairie lake.

It was there on the boat while fishing the prairie lake, I observed Miss E, age 4 1/2 and Miss A, almost 3, dig into the night crawlers. I dared Miss E to eat a worm. She did not go through with the dare, thankfully, but thought about it. I smiled thinking back how quickly things changed for Nathan. He doesn’t have to worry about whether his potential date can spend some in the great outdoors with him anymore. I am his lifelong date and I do indeed spend time in the great outdoors with him. But there is a next generation ready to take on the family traditions, ready to ask the tough questions. The next generation includes our teenager son, who loves to hunt and fish and is appropriately named, Hunter. But the next generation also includes two young girls.

I envision Miss A will be on a date some day, far, far in the future I hope. She will ask “Can you bait your own hook?”to her date. And undoubtedly, she will need a “yes” or at least a willingness to learn to continue on with the date. It’s what she knows. Our girls can teach the boys. Because at our house, girls bait their own hooks.

What is the extent of your favorite outdoor recreation?
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Prairie Mother says

    June 13, 2012 at 11:46 am

    Awesome! Way to go girls! I’m not much of a fisherman, I’m not afraid of worms or anything. I’m just not patient enough to sit and wait for fish 🙂 But I love being in the woods!! (Boy do I miss them too) And yes, I’ve peed in the woods! LOL

    Great questions Nathan!

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    June 13, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    Love it, Katie! You tell the story so well! Love the pics. This post is priceless…
    Love- R and “boys”

    Reply
  3. TexWisGirl says

    June 13, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    so cute. 🙂

    Reply
  4. LindaG says

    June 13, 2012 at 3:31 pm

    I bait my own hook, too. Sadly, none of our boys have an interest in fishing; though our oldest boy can bait his own hook, too.

    Great post!

    Reply
  5. Cindy Robinson says

    June 14, 2012 at 12:48 am

    The love of my life I married 33 years ago and we enjoy our summers spent in the boat fishing for walleyes on the Missouri River in South Dakota. All 3 of our children have grown learning to fish and hunt along side of us. We spent Memorial weekend taking our 18 month grand daughter on her 1st fishing trip and spent last weekend taking our 9 year old grand daughter on another fishing trip – she was introduced to fishing when she was 10 months old and has spent lots of time fishing with her dad. The pictures of your girls with the worms made me smile, as last weekend Bridgett would take one and wrap it up in a rag and pretend it was her baby until it was needed for her hook. Nothing better than spending time outdoors with family members!!

    Reply
  6. MTWaggin says

    June 14, 2012 at 2:37 am

    I LOVE the story and you bring back fond memories of my brother chasing me around the yard with night crawlers. I have to admit I was long an adult before I was willing to bait my own hook! LOL

    Reply
  7. NebraskaWheatie.com says

    June 14, 2012 at 5:48 am

    I THOROUGHLY enjoy your blog and because of that I’m nominating you for the Illuminating Blogger Award. Now you’ve got some work to do 🙂 Go to this link to find out all the particulars: http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/
    Tracy

    Reply
  8. rushoffthefarm says

    June 14, 2012 at 1:44 pm

    We don’t do a lot of fishing. We spend more outdoor time with cattle and horses. My husband’s clincher question would have probably been something more like, “can you palpate a cow?”

    Reply

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Welcome to the Prairie…

I am a mom of three kids and a wife to Nathan. Together we live on the North Dakota prairie, 97 miles from a Starbuck's. I share about family, food, farming and the prairie that I love. I used to commute 98 miles one-way to work but it required too much coffee. So now I am home, consulting, speaking, writing and primarily, juggling family life.
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