Picture in your mind a quiet shady spot by the river...the only sounds are of nature. The water rushing over the rocks, the birds singing about their lives, and the occasional KURPLUNK of the lure or hook splooshing into the water at the end of its cast. We sit back on rocks by the waters edge and watch as the world floats on by. You could tell Kimi had no idea what was going on or what to expect by the look on her face. She just couldn't understand why we drove so far just to sit by a river! However she has come to learn that fun comes in the most unexpected places so she sat back to give this a chance.

As daddy opened his tackle box, Kimi stood up to inspect it. She watched as he set up his pole with the right hook and sinkers, then watched as he stuck a slimy worm on the end of the hook. One could easily tell she was really very interested in what he was doing by the way her ears were perked up and her head was cocked to one side. Her eyes were alive and dancing with light. Daddy let her smell the worm before casting it out, but Kimi wasn't to impressed with that, although it DID smell of mud! MMMM!! With her head craned back to watch, she kept her eyes on the bobber as daddy cast out that pole. Then the whole process began again as daddy readied the next pole. Only this time there was no worm used! Daddy stuck his hand into this bucket thing that he had pulled up from the water and pulled out some wiggly smelly thing he called a minnow. Kimi's little bottom end wriggled as much as the minnow did when she spotted it, she wanted to play with it! She must have thought daddy was going to give in and give it to her to play with for she sat down and patiently waited for him to finish whatever he was doing. Then daddy stood up...Kimi looked up expectantly at him.....he pulled back the pole to cast.......Kimi stood up, watching him and the pole still, with hope in her eyes...and he let it fly! Kimi jumped to her feet..thru a disgusted look over her shoulders at daddy and began yipping frantically. Was she perhaps trying to call the bobber back in to her?? You know how Kimi feels about getting wet but she was desperate and desperation calls for desperate measures.....she actually went into the water, still yipping! Her feet got wet.....she looked down at the water, picked up one tiny front foot and shook it a little. Kimi stood there....one foot in the air, curkled under her little chest, and looked out across the water longingly. She put her foot back down and walked out a little further. Her legs were wet! She put her nose to the water.....sniffed....and out came her little pink tongue...taste-testing? She lapped the water once.... twice.... again...... and then decided fishy water didn't taste to bad so she had a nice long cooling drink. Then she discoverd her legs were still in the water....as were her feet! OH NO!! She was wet!!! YUCK! In one smooth jump she cleared the water level, turned her petite body and landed on shore. Acting more like a cat then a Sheltie, Kimi shook each foot free of water and decided that fishing this close to water was NOT for her! Time for some exploring!

Kimi walked along the river bank as far up and down as her leash would allow, sniffing new smells, and checking out new and interesting sights. One such sight she had discovered were the dragonflies. Looking somewhat butterfly like, but making strange helicopter noises, Kimi had to check these bugs out. The only problem was they kept landing where she couldn't get to them. In the water! The dragonflies had never met anyone quite like Kimi though. Being one of superior intelligence and unquenchable curiosity, Kimi works at something until she has it figured out. Quickly discovering there were rocks sticking just far enough out of the water that she could walk to where the dragonfly was at....she very carefully sniffed and tip-toed her way across the water. Balanced carefully on the surface of the rocks, Kimi moved very slowly to where the dragonfly was waiting in the river. Once she reached the last rock, Kimi stretched her little neck out as far as it could go trying to reach that elusive new 'friend'. Nnnnuugghh....not...quite...far enough.... nnnuuugghhh...just a little farther now and her nose will be there..... suddenly.... KURSPLOOSH! Yep...you guessed it. Kimi's feet slipped, she lost her delicate toe hold on the edge of the rock and in her nose, face and front feet went! Kimi quickly drew herself out of the icky wet stuff and turned to cross back to the shore. The only problem was, Kimi turned TOO quickly and her back feet and legs slipped off the same rock and landed in the water! Hopping like a rabbit, Kimi landed back on shore in three mighty jumps and shooks herself several times, sporting a thoroughly disgusted look. That was enough for her, Kimi took off up the trail back to camp, looking over her shoulder and yipping at me to follow only once.

Daddy soon tired of his bad luck at that spot and we all left to go try it out by this old bridge. Kimi and I carefully climbed our way past the rocks to the edge of the water and sat back to watch the old pro at work. Kimi must have forgotten the wet part about fishing for she set about exploring this new spot too. Daddy haven given up on using worms and minnows decided to try his hand using a lure that looked somewhat like a larger sized minnow. He tied it on, cast it out and with the usualy "kurplunk" he began slowly reeling it back toward shore. Suddenly..."WHOOSH"! The water rolled and splashed, Kimi's head shot up in surprise and when she spotted something in the water trying to 'attack' daddies fishing line she went nuts. Kimi began yipping madly, dancing up and down the river bank, and in a moment of haste...stepped out into the water! Daddy sure sounded excited! Kimi looked back up at him, still yipping and dancing as though she was trying to point the "thing" in the water out to him. Daddy kept turning the little handle on the pole and this thing in the water kept getting closer and closer......and CLOSER! Kimi...ever the protecter....moved closer to me and kept yipping loudy. Just as it came closer to shore....close enough Kimi could reach it if she were in the water......she did it. She jumped in! Still yipping! I didn't let her go in far enough to get in the way, but she got her feet wet..and you might say...she was a bit wet behind the ears. But she didn't even seem to mind. Heck...she didn't even seem to notice, so caught up in this exciting part of fishing like she was. Then daddy brought this "thing"...this "fish" up out of the water and Kimi stepped out of the water, she stepped back out of the way...clear out of the way. As in UNDER my legs out of the way! But of course it wasn't out of fear that Kimi hid...it was just caution. After all, Kimi had no idea what this thing was or what it might do. With her ears perked high, and in a very defensive stand, Kimi growled. It rumbled forth from low in her chest. "Rrr"... "RRrrr".... "RRRRrrrrr"... This fish flopped and flipped and twisted every which way, and big as it was Kimi was NOT about to get to close til daddy had a good hold on it! Once he got the hook out and had a hold of it in a way that it stopped moving, Kimi grew braver and cautiously stepped forward. Slowly she crept toward this thing, craning her neck so her nose could get there well ahead of the rest of her body. Just in case you understand. Sniffing it over as good as she could all stretched out like she was, it still didnt move. Kimi got braver and allowed the back end of her body to catch up to the front end so her front legs could take another cautious step forward. Out came her tongue....and she very lowly....very carefully ...'tasted' the fish. OOOOHHH!!!!! It was all...slimy feeling on her tongue and it tasted like....like....like FISH! YUCK!!

But wait! Hhmm...maybe it wasn't so bad after all. Kimi touched her togue to it again, then moved in for a closer sniff. When daddy stood up, the fish went up higher in the air along with him and Kimi couldn't quite reach it any more. She stood up on her back legs and said "YIP"! to daddy. Which I took to mean.."bring it back I wasn't done yet!" But he wasn't listening to well so Kimi had to step out of the way as daddy walked to the riverbank. He leaned over, held the fish out over the water, and much to Kimi's surprise and dismay...HE LET IT GO!! Kimi jumped to her feet from where she had sat down to watch daddy and with a loud "YIP!" she shouted "NO!" Kimi jumped into the water and plunged her nose down into the murky depths. Good grief! I sat there hoping she wasn't trying to sniff it out! She walked around a little with her nose in the water still, but evidently figured out she wouldn't be able to find it, and when she lifted her nose free of the water she began yipping at daddy. I am sure if we could speak Sheltie we would have heard her telling him off for turning it loose before she could make friends with it!

Well hope was still in the air, for daddy walked back to his place on the rocks and cast the lure out again. Maybe he would catch her another one! By now she was an old hand at how this worked. He pulls the pole back past his side....Kimi's head twists like an owl to watch the end of the pole. He swings the pole hard, keeping hold of his end of it. Kimi jumps to her feet excitedly. The lure lands with a "Kurplunk!" in the water and Kimi shouts..."Yip! RRRrrr"!! Then she stands at attention, her eyes never leaving the lure as daddy slowly works it back toward them. As he lifts it clear of the water..Kimi says "rrrrrrrr' again. And together they work until suddenly "WWHOOSH!" Another fish is on!! It was hard to tell who becomes more excited. Daddy, as he shouts "Oh boy!" or Kimi, as she shouts ""YIP! YIP! RRRRRR!!!!" Both jump to their feet. Both dance the the edge of the water. Both wait expectantly by the waters edge. And both shout again as the fish is landed on shore!

And so the afternoon wore on in this manner. Kimi never did quite figure out why daddy always turned it lose again, but after a time it didn't matter as long as he kept catching them! As the heat of the day built the fish lost interest in playing this 'game' that Kimi was having so much fun with. Daddy changed from lure to hook and worm again, and sat down with me and Kimi and laid his pole down. This is when Kimi decided to try her hand....uuuh paw...at the sport. She walked up to the end of the pole that was laying on the ground and sniffed it. She checked out the whole long length of the pole, then stood there looking out over the water for a minute watching the bobber floating in the water. Then she followed her nose back up the pole to the end of it, where she turned to face the water. Kimi placed her right paw over the end of the pole and raised her head to look out over the water again. Daddy and I sat there looking at each other. Both with the same question in our eyes. No way...she wasn't really going to figure out how to do this was she?? Neither one of us could believe it when Kimi then took her left paw, placed it on the reel handle and began pawing at it like she ws trying to turn it! Scoff if you must, but I know in my heart Kimi had figured out how to do this fishing thing and wanted to try landing one herself. And how much do you want to bet if she did actually catch one she wouln't have wanted to turn it loose like daddy was doing? Kimi would have wanted to keep it to play with it. Of course she is too young to know fish can't live out of water.

Kimi didn't actually catch anything herself, but she didn't let that stop her from trying. For even though Kimi didn't catch any fish herself, there was no failure in fishing on her part. Kimi knows the only failure is in failing to try.

walk in beauty Kristi & Kimi