Fishing season had just opened and
I was excited to head to Pineview Reservoir with my Dad and Grandpa after
school. I took a day off of work and
homework at the end of the school year was pretty light ( of course if truth
was being told I wasn’t that good of a student in High School, but Homework was
light, and so I added that for good
measure for my kids) so it was going to be a good night for fishing. Fishing back in the late seventies had an
opening day and a closing day, so fishing seemed more special back then. I
think I believe it was more special because it was something I did with my Dad
and Grandpa on a regular basis and it seemed I learned something from them
every time I would fish with them. The
time I spend with my Dad shaped my life. I didn’t know at the time how lucky I really
was but even then I had a sense how special it was that I was blessed to spend
time with him and my Grandpa fishing.
We stopped in Ogden and picked up
my Grandpa and grabbed a few sandwiches my Grandma had made with her hands and we headed up Ogden
canyon. I loved Ogden canyon and not just because it is a beautiful canyon, but
because there was a huge water pipe that traveled the length of the canyon from
Pineview Reservoir, to the city, to provide water to the city. I loved that
pipe because my Grandpa Standing had been hired to crawl through the pipe and
look for holes or gaps in the steel sections.
If there we holes that weren’t fixed of course the pipe would It was a
hard job and I could not imagine crawling on his hands and knees with the bugs and
heat to complete that job. My Grandpa did it because he needed the money to
provide for his family. He did it out of
Love for his wife and kids. I also guess he did it because he knew how
important of a job it was for an entire city. His hands had been used to provide a service that still is helping people to this day.
We arrived at the spot we thought would
be good fishing. It was along the old highway that had been covered by water
when the Dam was build. When we showed up there were a lot of cars which was
both good and bad. Good from the point that
people always seemed to know when fishing was hot and bad from the stand point
there were going to be a lot of fishing lines in the water. After walking down
the road we put on our waders and headed into the water. The water was very murky and you could not
see where you were stepping so you had to go fairly slow and take small steps
as you could not see the bottom. My Dad
reminded me that somewhere in front of us was a channel where the river use to
run, so it was much deeper in the channel than the area around it. We found some open space and casted our lines
into the water. It didn’t take long
before we were catching fish at a pretty quick pace. The pace was so fast I do
not recall a time before or after that we ever caught as many fish at the rapid
pace we did that night.
After a period of time I caught
what felt like a huge fish and I started to reel it in. As it got close to
where we standing I thought I was going to lose the fish so I stepped forward to
get get it in quicker so I could grab it. The next thing I knew, I was going
down in water fast and I was completely under water before I even realized what had happened. It happened so fast, I could not even realize
that I was truly in great danger at that moment as 1) I am not a great swimmer, 2) the water
was so murky no one would know where I was and 3) due to my waders that i had tied on my levis, I was sinking
fast and deep, and to try and get them off to get back to the surface would have
been very difficult if not impossible. At that certain time in my life, the
chances of me drowning were about 100 percent due to the depth of the water and
my lack of swimming skills.
Without even missing a beat, my
Dad, who I believe is just as bad a swimmer as me, and I also think is a little
scared of the water, somehow moved though the water in lighting speed and
reached down in the murky water with his hand and located me and pulled me back onto the
ledge of the channel with such speed and strength that I was shocked to be completely
under the water one moment and back on solid ground the next. I will never forget how powerful I felt his grip as he grabbed me. Without thinking
of himself of worrying about falling in the water himself he saved my life
quickly and completely. If was as if he did it second nature and without any
thought of the circumstances. I knew at that
moment my Dad would always be there for me to extend a hand to help and save me
if needed. I have never had to worry if my parents would be there to extend a
helping hand and even save me if necessary.
Because of my parents love for their children, it has never been a second
thought for me to also be there for my kids in time of need. We teach by example and I had the best examples
from my mom and dad, and where much is given much is required.
God and his Son are always there to
extend their hands to help as we ask and I love the pictures where Jesus is reaching his hand to
lift someone up from lower to higher places. Luckily I learned this principal by example in my home from a loving Mom and Dad who were taught by my Grandparents.
I am grateful for Helping Hands
#daren Hogge
#daren Hogge
