Make Swirls

Our family lives near the banks of the Trout River.  Living next to the river has a real appeal to me.  Areas of the Trout River in particular are reminiscent of Old Florida.  I remember as a child watching the TV show Gentle Ben.  The show was about a boy named Mark who lived in the Florida everglades with his 650 pound black bear named Ben.  Marks father was a wildlife ranger and drove an airboat.  As a young kid living in the woods of Vermont, I was captivated by the show and the lifestyle. How cool would it be to have an airboat and a bear! That was my only exposure to Florida when I was 7 or 8 years old.

Living along the Trout River kind of reminds me of that lifestyle.  Crabbers ply their traps, pelicans fly over in formation and Eagles like sentries on high, watch for fish. We don't have an airboat (or a bear for that matter), but we do have a canoe and three dogs (one named Cub). And we like to slip down the river every now and then.  Our location on the Trout River is just across the river from the Jacksonville Zoo. We like to canoe to the zoo.  Last year, our family even created an event called Canoe to the Zoo and had over 125 participants.  It was a really fun event.

My daughters like to paddle the canoe.  They have noticed over the past couple of years, that the canoe paddle leaves a distinct swirl in the water.  Watching the swirls is a little bit mesmerizing.  Riley and Kinsey both like to see the swirls.  I like them too.  They are like aquatic art that seem to have spontaneous life and then just disappear, diving beneath the surface to a place humans are unable to access.  "Make swirls" is a common refrain heard as the Gabree family paddles down the river.  That phrase coming from those two beautiful voices tinged with joy is better than an airboat and a bear any day!

SO today, as you go about your business, make swirls.  Enjoy the simple little gifts God has given you .  They are masterpieces in disguise and art from the Master Designer of us all.  Make Swirls.

About seven years ago I started a blog entitled "My Girls Dad".  I maintained the blog for approximately a year and then let it go.  The blog was simple capsules of everyday little events that happened throughout the course of our lives.  I call these events, threads in the quilt of life.  Those little, seemingly inconsequential things that are memorable for a short while then slip into forgotten space never to be recalled.  It is amazing to me the hours and hours of time we spend on this earth and the amount of energy spent in activity that will, with time, be forgotten.

Early this year, as we were driving to school one day, Kinsey started recalling for me some threads.  Memories that had long since slipped into the furthest reaches of my mind, fast pushing toward the black hole of my memory bank  It was amazing to me that she remembered these fairly mundane details of our life.  What a memory she has.  As she spoke, my thoughts pondered the strength of a young brain and how it could capture data and retain it like a steel trap.  "I remember those days" I thought to myself.  As my mind wandered while she spoke, it further reinforced the conclusion that a young mind has some distinct advantages.  Fading back into the conversation from my slight diversion, I heard Kinsey say "then Riley said, look Daddy the clouds have fallen to the ground" followed by both Riley and Kinsey giggling.  I missed something but Kinsey recalling that story brought it back from the edge of the abyss.  Re-engaging, I asked Kinsey how she remembered that story. She said "I read it on the My Girls Dad blog you used to post to.  I read all the stories there."  

I was surprised, amazed and happy.  Surprised that she even found the blog.  The blog posting was not something I had shared with the girls.  I think a friend of hers at school had found it and told her about it.  Amazed that she found it interesting enough to read every post.  And happy that these little jewels of our life were there for her to remember and share with me.  After that day, I went back and read the old blog.  It was a fun read that brought a smile to my face.  

It was that day, that conversation that was the catalyst for me to begin blogging again.  This is more of a journal than it is a blog.  It is history of memories and emotion.  I think most folks will find the contents contained herein fairly boring.  I hope my girls will look on this journal years from now and find some nuggets of happiness, some threads in their quilt of life.