A Teaching Opportunity

By occupation, I am a teacher. My parents were teachers, my sister and only sibling was a teacher. My DNA is constructed for it. 
Even though most of my teaching occurs in an indoor classroom, one of the greatest pleasures I get is teaching someone how and where to fly-fish.
I've had many mentors along the way, starting with my father, who certainly meant well when he took me fishing for the first time, but had no idea the impetus would fuel a life-long addiction. 
On a pond bank in rural Mississippi, cane pole in hand, hook baited with a live cricket, I watched my red and white plastic bobber go under, yanked back and felt the spinning tug of a brightly colored sunfish.  Beyond excited, I flipped him out of the water and promptly flipped my brain into fish mode, for it was in that instant I was hooked on a sport that would in some level dominate the rest of my life. 
Dad, I am forever grateful that you took time to introduce me to such a wonderful sport.  Thank you for the greatest gift you could have given me.
Many years later I would have the pleasure of presenting my own son with his first angling opportunity.  I can only hope that one day he will have the blessing to do the same with his own son and continue the legacy. 
As I grew up, many other counsellors had a hand in instructing me in the fine art of angling.  My grandmother, my great aunt, various cousins, adults, and many friends added to my knowledge and skills.  When I became an adult, my fishing friends were and are my favorite people.  As a matter of fact, my favorite fishing partner is my wife, Laurie who has crawled every rock and waded every stream I've led her through for the past decade.  God knew what he was doing when he put us together.
I recently had the opportunity to incorporate a new friend into my fold.  He was new to the fly-fishing for trout game and I was more than willing to teach him a thing or two.
Danny is a great guy with a keen sense of adventure and competitive drive. He is a former high school teacher and coach and has served as a Methodist minister for more than three decades. Danny purchased a house in northern Arkansas and was seeking counsel about the outdoor activities there. Although Danny is my pastor, I’m not sure how he found out I was a fly fisherman familiar with the area, but he did. 
Soon after, we began planning a trip so I could “show him the ropes” and what a great trip it was. Over a four day period we fished the White, Norfork, and Spring Rivers and I had the pleasure of watching Danny catch his first trout on a fly.

Here are a few pics from the trip.  I am hopeful that Danny and I can share many more trips in the future and that I might have another opportunity to pass on some of the knowledge that countless others have so graciously given me.