Lessons Learned

I bet we all remember when we learned a lesson the hard way against the counsel of the adults. The adults gave you lots of warning, but you just had to find out for yourself.

For most children it is “Don’t touch that, it’s hot!” I don’t remember that particular lesson, but the lesson I remember learning on my own is one which made me listen better to the adults in my life.

I was seven years old and I was in Canada with my father and brother. We had an expedition with a guide at a lake we were unfamiliar with. We went fishing for trout. For some reason I was really thirsty, and I kept dipping a cup into the lake and drinking the water. Every time I did that I would get a warning not to do that because I’d get sick. I was fine and the water tasted really good.

After a couple hours we took the boat to one of the islands where our guide started a camp fire to cook the trout we had caught that morning. After only moments of standing on the island I felt a strong compulsion to seek out some bushes where I could expel the rumbling in my gut. Oh my, I went and I went. When I was done I had to go some more.

I’d hear the rest of the party telling me the trout were almost ready to eat. I’d shout back that I’d be right there. I’d clean myself up and start heading over, but as soon as I stood, I was compelled to return to the laurels and continue my most important task.

After an hour or so I must have been clean enough for intestinal surgery. There couldn’t possibly be anything left to squirt. I wandered from the laurels. The fire was put out and everyone was getting back in the boat. They asked if I needed to stay on the island and they’d pick me up later, but somehow I knew I was finished. I finished the afternoon sleeping in the boat and I never dipped my cup for water again.