Idyllic Afternoon

The beauty of winter had long since melted away from the countryside. The surface of the little pond that had been frozen months ago calmly reflected images of the trees growing tall along the opposite bank. The stillness of the surface of the water was only interrupted when the boys cast their lines and the bait and bobbers hit the water. Momentarily more interested in the cookies, slices of chocolate cake, and orange pop Grandma sent with them, Theodore and Oliver let their bobbers rest quietly in the water.

Grandpa watched their lines as well as his own while sitting quietly on his overturned bucket a few feet from the water's edge. It was a pleasant day. The best kind of day for the boys and Grandpa. He smiled as he reflected on the day. When the boys were in the kitchen with Grandma getting snacks ready and getting water for her marigolds in the flower kettle, he had gone to the old barn to get the "B" ready for their fishing trip to the pond. He was still nimble enough to quickly climb into the seat as he had possibly more than 1,000 times. He adjusted the throttle, pulled the choke, and engaged the starter. Grandma and the boys heard the engine roar to life. They loved that sound.

Grandma went to get the cooler of snacks from the counter where it sat beside a box wrapped in plain brown paper. She glanced at the photo on the refrigerator of Grandpa and his brothers next to the corral after catching the young bull that had run amok at county fair once upon a time and giggled as she passed through the kitchen. After they loaded the gear and cooler, Grandpa drove the boys to the pond to fish and enjoy the serene setting. Grandma went to finish hanging clothes on the line behind the house. Everything smelled country fresh when dried on the line at home. Then, she would start cooking another wonderful meal while waiting for the kid, as she lovingly called her son, to come and join them for supper. She kept some butter and a cast-iron skillet ready, too, in case the boys brought home a few keepers from the pond.

Theodore and Oliver loved to ride on the wide axle of the "B" with their feet on the pull bar. The "B" was a classic 1947 Farmall tractor with the driver's seat on the right side of a wide rear axle that had room for the two young passengers on the left side. The beautiful, bright red color made it hard to miss as it rolled down the drive and onto the road. The bumps in the old dusty gravel road made the boys bounce and giggle gleefully as they grabbed hold of the seat and fender. It was only a mile down the road to the pond, but the boys thought the ride was an adventure of epic proportions. Grandpa pushed in the clutch and they rolled to a stop at the bottom of the hill near the pond. The boys lugged the cooler to their fishing spot and Grandpa grabbed the gear. At the edge of the pond, they found some deer and raccoon tracks. The wild critters were long gone before they arrived, but the boys always watched for wildlife. With hooks baited and bobbers attached, they cast their lines into the water and waited for the ripples to vanish. Soon thereafter, Oliver's bobber bounced almost imperceptibly. Then again and again, a little more noticeably each time. On the fourth bounce it disappeared! The boys erupted with excitement as Oliver held tightly onto the rod and reel as the line moved back and forth and then in circles. Grandpa reminded him to pull back gently and slowly work the reel, bringing the fish closer to shore with each pull as the line wrapped around the spool. At last, he landed a nice bluegill. During the excitement, Theodore's bobber disappeared, too! Almost missing it, he grabbed the rod and reel before it was pulled into the water. He worked the reel and slowly brought the fish to shore. Grandpa helped them put the fish into a wire basket in the water and anchored it to the bank. His bobber was still floating motionlessly on the water. The excited boys quickly prepared their lines again and cast them over the water. As the bobbers stopped bouncing and the ripples they created in the surface of the water disappeared, they decided it was time for snacks and they opened the cooler. They offered Grandpa a bottle of orange pop and a cookie before grabbing their own and settling on the cooler lid to watch the bobbers and see what might be moving around the pond. Two small turtles were sunning themselves on a log across the pond, seemingly oblivious to their presence and the excitement of catching the fish.

The snacks and drinks were gone and they hadn't had any more bites, so the boys had become distracted with a humorous and fruitless attempt to capture a frog that had hopped into view at the edge of the pond. Grandpa grinned and made a note to show them how to catch a frog next time. He gathered their gear asked them if they were ready to go back to the farm to see their Dad and Grandma. The kid would be back from work soon and he didn't want to make him wait for supper. Since they had only caught two fish, they decided to open the basket and release them this time. After waving good-bye to the fish, they loaded the "B" and hopped on. Grandpa climbed into the seat and in a moment the engine roared to life again. As they made a circle around a small pear tree near the pond, a flash of green light briefly caught their eyes. "Firefly!" shouted the boys in unison. It was the first one of the season and it was out a bit early that evening because it started to get dark at the bottom of the hill sooner than it did at the farm. When they got back to the farm Dad and Grandma greeted them in the yard and Dad jumped on the tractor like a little kid and held on for a ride around the yard before Grandpa parked the "B" in the barn. They washed their hands under the old manual water pump behind the house and joined Grandma for the wonderful supper waiting for them. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing under the leafy maple trees while enjoying a gentle cool breeze. The boys both fell asleep on the swing watching for more fireflies in the night sky.