All's Well That Ends In The Live Well

Now that my son and my two grandkiddies have returned to Ohio I can sit back and think about the fun they left at the lake. My oldest grandson, Oscar is almost 8. He's unique because he goes with the flow. Nothing seems to bother him. He can sit in a boat, never catch a fish but enjoy himself immensely by seeing the Loons or a passing eagle. He'll look at the clouds and remark, "doesn't that remind you of a frog, Grandpa"?
Genevieve, on the other hand is a non stop talker who knows everything about God's creation and her energy level knows no bounds. She's the one who told me last July 3 when I wished her happy birthday that she was glad she was five because she was tired of being four. When it comes to participating in anything she'll say, "I can do it. I can do it". Vieve is an excellent swimmer. She's a ballerina, a gymnast and in her mind she could climb Mt. Everest all by herself--without an oxygen tank.
She loves to go fishing and we did it twice a day. Ol' Grandpa made sure we went were the kiddies would catch something on every dropping of the worm in the water. Since we only had a dozen of the crawlers I told her we'd have to rip them in half. "I can do it. I can do it, Grandpa". From her standpoint every rock bass(non-edible and about six inches long) are worthy of the live well. "Can we keep it. Can we keep it, Grandpa"? "Yes, Vie, we can keep it but just to show Grandma when we get back to the cabin" And so we did but as soon as her prey were shown back they went into the lake.
Lucky Genevieve. On the last day she caught a keeper large mouth bass. "Can I clean it, Grandpa. Can I clean it"?
For me this was a trip down memory lane. When my daughter was eight she went to Girl Scout Camp. One of their experiences was to go out and find something they could eat if they happened to be lost in the wild. Well, all of the kids found berries and mushrooms. The normal stuff. Not Molly. She snagged a snake, killed it, cleaned it, cooked it and ate it in front of everyone. Her legacy, I'm sure lives on to this day and I bragged on her for months.
After docking the boat, with Vieve having the honor of carrying her trophy to the cleaning station, I showed her where to make the first cut. It's important, in my mind, to let the kid's know that God provides these creatures to man for our use. So, after that explanation I gave my woman-child the knife and let her make the first cut under the gills then I took over.
This event may seem like a small thing to many of you but what was created was a life memory. I hope I'm around long enough to have Genevieve relate to her children how she caught her first 'keeper'. Life is good.