Sacked Out

He hung in there for six hours. Fueled by gummy worms, twizzlers, and blue gatorade, he flogged the water with a thrift store rod and an indicator. Taking occasional pause to point out a seagull, cow, or family of geese, his focus was unwavering. For the first time all year sun screen was more important than snow pants and getting in the water was no longer a life threatening proposition. We were living large.

Mid afternoon the unthinkable occurred. The little man hit the wall and voluntarily asked to take a nap. Curling up on the floor of the drift boat, with a rain coat for a pillow, he passed out. The slumber was deep. The remainder of the float he slept. Hitching up the boat and pulling it out of the water wasn’t enough to wake him. Ultimately, even I have a modest amount of judgment as a parent and I decided to disrupt the nap before putting the cover on the boat. More gummy worms eased the rude awakening and we pointed the truck towards home.

Photos by Steven Brutger