{"id":274,"date":"2024-04-24T17:43:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T17:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/?p=274"},"modified":"2026-01-26T14:41:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T14:41:03","slug":"the-ironies-of-life-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/2024\/04\/24\/the-ironies-of-life-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ironies of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Irony of Life: When we want\/need something the most, many of us can afford it the least; and when we can afford it the most, we no longer want or need it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When people ask where I grew up, I often say, “I farmed until I was 2.” That line usually gets a smile. I was about 2 when my family left the farm for a Northern town where my father and uncle bought a grocery store. It was a mining town in the middle of nowhere. And there was an abundance of excellent fishing lakes all around us. Probably my best memory of father-son outings while growing up was time spent on a lake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After retirement, my father (Nick) still made regular trips to that town to enjoy the opportunity for good fishing. He would usually team up with his nephew Ed who also was retired. No more jobs. Children all grown up and gone. Just the two of them heading out to enjoy the lake and bring home some fish, preferably pickerel, for supper. (As traditional Ukrainians, they had no concept of the evening meal being called ‘dinner’).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can visualize Nick and Ed floating peacefully on a favourite fishing spot and jigging for pickerel. Jigging. That’s where you shut off the engine, throw out the anchor, drop your hook into the water, jerk your line up a little bit every half-minute or so, and let it settle down again. All of this is done with the hope of attracting a fish. Those who are serious about fishing will have their own version of what is the best bait to put on the hook. It could be a piece of meat, a kernel of corn, or some other often secret ingredient that would likely not be shared with others for fear that they might catch your fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually, what is said on a fishing boat stays on the boat (something like going to Las Vegas). But Dad shared one conversation with me that has stuck in my memory. He and Ed were on a favourite lake in Ed’s boat. Enjoying the comfort of a glimmering sun, a warming breeze, and a gently rocking boat, Ed broke the silence and began to share his thoughts in the moment. <\/p>\n\n\n

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I don’t have a transcript of those words but will reconstruct what Dad passed on to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always a soft spoken man, Ed wistfully said, “Nick, life doesn’t make sense. When my kids were young, all I had was a 12-foot aluminum boat, a 5-horsepower motor, and the cheapest fishing gear. And all too often, I was ‘too busy’ when my kids asked if we could go fishing. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Now, they’re all gone. I’m retired and have all the time in the world. And here we are in a 20-foot fiberglass cruiser, a powerful engine, and all the best equipment you can buy.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Dad was usually a man of few words. He looked at Ed, smiled, and nodded his head in agreement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two men alone in a beautiful new boat. Sharing the poignant reality of one of the ironies of life. When we want or need something the most, many of us can afford it the least; and when we can afford it the most, we no longer want or need it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Irony of Life: When we want\/need something the most, many of us can afford it the least; and when we can afford it the most, we no longer want or need it. When people ask where I grew up, I often say, “I farmed until I was 2.” That line usually gets a smile. I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":681,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions\/681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miles2go.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}