A friend contacted me a while back about his father’s old cedar-strip-and-canvas duck boat. Did I have any use for it… know anyone who would?
It turns out I did. My hunting buddy has a 15-year-old son who is a duck-hunting machine. We decided to take my friend up on his offer and spend the next year renovating it for the young man.
The boat was made shortly after 1950 by the Shell Lake Boat Co. Once the 75-year-old boat has been made right, it will belong to a very happy young duck hunter.
Here’s the letter I wrote to my generous friend…
“I can’t thank you enough for the generous gift of your father’s duck boat. Josh and I plan to fully restore it for his son. This lucky young man will hunt out of it for many decades to come, and he’ll never be alone. Your father and you will be with him during those hours when the world comes alive, a new day is born… and the magic of whistling wings is etched in his memory and his soul.
I know, from experience, how difficult it can be to ‘let go’ of important things; it’s a fear that the memories of what they’re associated with will disappear and be lost forever. But, things aren’t really memories… they’re just prompts; reminders of people and times past. Those memories will never leave us… and in passing your father’s duck boat down to a younger generation, you are creating a whole new set of memories. What a kindness… thank you.
I’m sure that this gift will also appear in numerous paintings over the decades ahead… and I’ll make sure you get the first print of the best one.”
Stay tuned…
