BTW, I did almost die one year falling through a beaver pond trying to retrieve the duck I shot.

ALONE.

Up to my chest in water.

Can't move.

I got back to my truck, on all 4's so tired from the cold. Just getting the door opened took forever.

I ended up in the hospital with water in my lungs, pneumonia, and some flu like thing. 6 weeks in the hospital. That was sick. I quit hunting alone. More or less. I was the fire marshal and had the run of 600 miles of private road. So my gun was behind the seat of the truck all the time. Or guns. No more gun racks. No more CIL warblers to get fish in beaver ponds. (that's dynamite) I used to blast the beaver dams that messed up the roads. The the RCMP found out I had sticks and caps in the same truck. Oh Oh.

BTW, thanks for the thumbs up. I used to say we had 90% boredom and 10% when all H broke loose.

I keep saying I'll write a book. Our fire department was 600 strong, all brothers, and at the end, sisters too. Every day with me was an episode of MASH combined with an hour of serious training and planning.
At times it was hard to get through to the new ones. Stick with someone who's been there and done that, and learn.

I still have goosebumps thinking about your son in the water. It does not get scarier than that you know.

Nature is nice to look at, but needs a whole lot of respect.

John Conley
Musica est vita