My family and I spent a delightful day Sunday with friends in Clarksville, Tenn. At one point during the afternoon I was admiring a series of snapshots that had a been framed and placed on the wall. My friend Bill is an excellent amateur photographer; his wife is excellent in all things and is one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met. Genius level. She is also a dear friend.
I asked about the photos, one of which focused on an ornate castle size building. Historic and beautiful.
“I took those in Portugal,” Bill said, offering details about each picture.
Bill explained that his wife had been on a business trip to Portugal and he’d gone along for the ride, effectively turning the jaunt into a vacation. Further investigation revealed that this was a fairly regular occurrence. France has been on the schedule. So has the Czech Republic. I was delighted for my friends.
I thought about this during the drive home. I enjoy my work and am blessed to be able to do what I do; having had the opportunity fish and hunt and camp and canoe from Canada to Mexico. But my business trips often take me to place that are absent of indoor plumbing and where a bath means a dip in the lake, even if ice must be broken to get to the water.
Lack of genius, I guess, has its own rewards.
The Outdoor Notebook 