A LITTLE NUDGE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
That feeling when you set the hook and start fighting has always been addicting for me. I don’t remember the first fish I caught, but I remember riding my bike to a nearby dock with whatever bait I could find almost everyday after school. I always wanted to catch another one, a bigger fish each time. “Just one more cast,” was said way too often. Nothing compared to that time on the water. Skipping lunch, or rather skipping the food, just to spend 30 extra minutes throwing a fly in front of a few bluegills became a regular occurrence. That tight line feeling just wasn’t replaceable, but one day, I found a different joy.
The first time I sat on the edge of the pond with my 3 year old daughter, I handed her the rod as the bobber darted under, and watched her joy as she fought, landed, and held up that little bream so proudly. Seeing that moment play out was more than I could have ever imagined. It was beautiful. Every time I can put any of our three little ones on the water to cast a rod or just enjoy what the water has to offer, I am doing it.
The sad part: almost every time I take them out on the water, I am inevitably faced with the question, “Why is this trash here?”. It is a question that I regrettably quit asking myself, and I honestly became so used to seeing litter in the water, it stopped registering that it didn’t belong.
I distinctly remember going out with our son, 4 years old at the time, on our skiff to catch a few finger mullet, and having to hop off and wade through waist high grass to get a balloon that had clearly been there a while. It was so eye opening to hear him say, “Let’s pick up”. Here I am, not even noticing the litter, and my 4 year old is demanding we stop and get it. A few scratches later,a little pluff mud in my shoe, and I had it in the boat, and he had a smile on his face. With such a simple choice, and an easy task that took only a few extra minutes, we made a difference. That one choice set in his mind the standard at which we enjoy our waters: leave them better than we find them. I realized that it wasn’t my waters anymore, it was theirs, and they deserved it to be healthy and clean.
It’s amazing how a little nudge in the right direction can change so much. That’s what we hope to be as a family. That’s what we hope to be as a company. That is the reason we make. That’s the reason we started Amabile Co. We’re hoping to be that nudge, to be the little reminder that small choices DO matter.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not just our waters we are protecting, it’s the next generations too.
