My favourite memories.....

Sharing some of my childhood memories often makes me smile. Mostly because I get to talk about my Dad. We lost him suddenly back in 2006, and when I can share stories with others about him, it always makes me happy. I’m actually glad that I still have these memories to share, even though I don’t have him around.

My love for the outdoors really started with my parents. They had a cabin out the bay where it was only accessible by boat in the warmer months and skidoo in the winter. I remember getting in the boat to go there and at times, stopping to jig a codfish for supper. I remember one time I caught a squid on my jigger line and had no idea what it was when I brought it up, ink squirted everywhere, and my dad was trying to get it out of the boat before it ruined the carpets, lol.

We used to go with friends to a little place called Little Seal Island. There was a rocky beach where we would have cook ups and spend the day swimming in the ocean. I don’t know how I ever got in it because it was so freakin’ cold! But we loved every minute of it!

The winter was fun. We had a ski-boose (spelling?) that I would get it. Man, was that ever fun! How many mittens did I loose on the way to the cabin, sticking my hands out to grab trees and my mitts would stick to the needles and “boom” gone! Skidooing was my favourite.

My dad was a man who loved fast things, lol. When I was 12 he bought a Mach 1 700 triple and gave my his old skidoo, a 580 Formula plus. It was pretty fast for a 12 year old girl. I couldn’t even pull it over to start it. But I was soo cool, so it didn’t really matter, there was always someone around to start it for me. My very first ride on it, my dad got on the back and we went towards Rodney Pond, in the Gambo area. There were several washouts along the way, which dad would tap me on the back and let me know one was coming up. Well, he forgot one and we went in that going 50 km an hour. He came off the back and I went into a tree and cracked the front of the skidoo. Blood was going everywhere as I struck my nose on the handle bars. I wasn’t going to drive that thing anymore, but Dad made me get back on and go again. I was scared for a while, but I got over it.

After a while, my parents sold the boat and cabin and bought a camper. We would leave it up to a pond near Gambo, called North Pond. When we would go there I would spend my time out by the pond trying to catch a trout. Sometimes we would go to Rodney Pond looking for the big pond trout. Me and dad went alone one time and hit a run of fish. We would catch one after another, big trout (well big for NL), we may have caught a few….but its something I will never forget.

My first moose hunting trip was when I was 13. My dad had a license for Terra Nova. We decided to go to Triton brook just up from our camper and try there. It wasn’t very long into the morning of the first day of hunting season that we saw the biggest bull we’ve ever seen! It just jumped out in front of the truck! Of course Dad has the gun ready and jammed the breaks on solid! He had the window down and took a shot. He hit it but didn’t get the animal to stop. So we followed it onto a cutover where he took it down. He was so excited, it was a trophy animal, and me, well, I cried. I wasn’t really sure if I liked what just happened or not, but I helped him clean the animal and it wasn’t until a few days later that I really realized what I experienced. Looking back now, It was probably one of the most memorable times in my life. I still have the antlers and the picture that we took that day.

Sometimes there are moments in our lives that happen for a reason. We don’t always realize it at the time, but I believe that I live this life for a reason. I love helping people, I love making people happy, I love making memories. The life I’ve lived so far I can share with others, that makes me truly happy.

Kristen