SHEPHERDING OUTDOORS

As is often the case when any dad talks to any of his children, matters of fact espoused by me often are challenged by my girls.

“There is no way that is right, Dad.” Bay, my oldest daughter who was, at the time, maybe 10, was confident in her defiance. “There is no way we have more animals and bugs in Alabama than any other state.”

“I’m not sure exactly how it works, Bay, but I promise we are considered the most biodiverse state in the country.” My retort was not very convincing. Of course, had our friend, neighbor and UPS driver, Mr. Pete, stuck his head in the door and declared “Alabama is the most biodiverse state in the country!” Well then… Bay would have declared him a genius and awarded him a Nobel Prize!

But for me… I am just “dumb ole dad.” So, I turned to Hannah to be my backup. “Don’t look at me,” she quickly distanced herself from the debate, “I don’t have the foggiest clue if you're right.”

“Thanks, riblet,” I muttered under my breath. Hannah resented any remark I ever jokingly made that pointed toward the fact that the good Lord made man first. She usually retorted with some equally sarcastic remark about how if man had been “up to snuff, God wouldn’t have had to make woman…. But y’all couldn’t cut it by yourself.” Luckily, this time she didn’t hear my gruff, but I admit, I did think to myself a few other disparaging thoughts likening her to the villainous member of the tag team ‘wrastlin match’ that betrays his partner to help the bad guys win the match.

“You ever heard of the Iron Sheik?” She looked at me like the RCA Dog…. “Huh?”

Back then, we had television, but only basic channels. We picked up WEAR out of Pensacola, WSFA out of Montgomery and WTVY out of Dothan. That was it. No cable and no internet. That was… by choice. We long subscribed to the notion that Wordsworth was right… “the world is too much with us” and internet and cable only add to the chaos. Best of all though, we had Public Television out of Dozier, Alabama. And with public television came that fellow in the canoe (whose name I don’t have permission to use) and the show, "Discovering Alabama." It’s still on air and has won at least one Emmy… maybe more. Truly, he and the show are Alabama treasures. We watched that show pretty faithfully as the girls grew up. We felt that second to actually being out in nature, the show taught them the importance of being good stewards to what God entrusted us with… His majestical creation that we call earth.

And lo and behold, about two weeks after Bay and I went round and round on the subject, that fellow in the canoe declared that Alabama has the most freshwater river miles of any state in the country… “Even Alaska,” he added. “And that makes Alabama the most biodiverse state in the country.”

My head spun around like that little girl on The Exorcist movie and I made a dead cold stare at little miss sassy britches sitting at the far end of the couch. “What?" She had a tone of righteous indignation in her voice.

“You know what,” I proclaimed.

“No, I don’t.” She paused. “What? That thing about the most animals and bugs? That’s not what he said…” and she crossed her arms and turned back to the television.

Well… the more things change, the more they stay the same, I suppose. Here I am now, with Bay as my 20 year-old daughter, home for summer break from her studies at Ole Miss. She called a few weeks back to talk of things to come for the summer.

“Could we go kayaking on the Sepulga a few times before the summer heat kicks in?” She referenced the Sepulga River… a small river that flows through portions of the Wiregrass and empties into the Conecuh River. We kayaked both rivers more times than I could count as she grew up.

“And maybe we could even go spend some time on the Cahaba too? And maybe we could go fishing or just ride in the Delta?” She whined just a little as she asked… she inadvertently changed her voice slightly too… sounding a bit more like her younger self.

“Baby girl… we can do all of those things this summer.” And we will.

Because to our family, it was far more important that Bay and her two sisters learn for themselves about the biodiversity of our state. You see, from a scientific standpoint, Alabama is the mother-of-all-states when it comes to biodiversity. With 132,000 freshwater river miles and over 6,000 different species, Alabama is second to none. But more importantly though, from a creationist standpoint, Alabama is likened to the Garden of Eden. Everything is right outside our very own back door. And almost as the Lord offered to Adam and Eve… it's all here for our wonder, awe and enjoyment.

But rather than tell my girls about the Cahaba Lily and show them pictures… we paddled the river and saw them firsthand. In fact, on one particular trip, my air mattress deflated and I stared with insomnia at Cape and Bay, snug as two bugs in a rug, on their air mattress. Finally, near dawn I crawled out of the tent and stoked the fire. They slept until nearly 8 o’clock and came out bragging about how well rested they were.

“You ever heard of the Iron Sheik?” I asked. They both shook their head “no” and moved closer to the fire. I prayed for a soothing spirit and a positive attitude. Within a few minutes we were watching a bald eagle fly straight up the river. Sometimes the Lord answers prayers in unique ways, for this was the first time the girls had ever seen a bald eagle at all, and the first I had ever seen in Alabama, outside of the Auburn University Raptor Center. His presence captivated us all, and became an easy distraction from my lack of sleep.

“Thank you, Lord,” I muttered.

“For what, Daddy,” one of the girls asked, as all of our gazes stayed fixed on the eagle as he glided up the river channel searching for breakfast.

“For… this,” the other daughter responded with emphasis.

I didn’t feel the need to say another thing.

There have been other times when we have been silenced by the beauty and awe that is Alabama. Sunset on Mobile Bay after an afternoon of fishing is about as near to heaven as one might can get, if you ask me. And watching snow fall on the cotton fields of Pickens County is equally beautiful. But neither of those pictures are complete without a boatload of speckled trout or a big whitetail blazing a trail through that new fallen snow.

One of my favorites though… we were alligator hunting in the Delta a few years back. My friend Travis Martin (The Martin Homestead on Facebook), his son Tyler and his daughter Anna were with us. We’ve hunted as two families together for many years. Tyler spied a baby alligator sitting on a lily pad fifty feet or so in front of the boat. The girls “oooo’d and aaaa’d” over how cute he was… his eyes twinkling in the spotlight. Travis or I one suggested they enjoy the moment, for he would surely scoot off the pad and hide in the murky depths.

But he did not. In fact, he wouldn’t move at all. Drifting ever closer, Tyler leaned down over the front of the boat to get an eagle’s eye view. Seeing the problem, Tyler scooped up that baby gator, as he re-alized he was bound with fishing line. The kids freed him from his restraints, took a few pictures, and sent him back to find his momma… unless we did first.

“Funny, isn’t it?” Cape pondered. “We came out here to hunt and we end up setting one free.” We all pondered the irony in the darkness of the midnight calm. “I guess we better take care of them too… if we want to be able to enjoy them,” one of the other kids replied.

I sat silent again. Travis did too. There was nothing we could tell them to add to their understanding. “This…” is a gift. And we shall treasure it.

From the shrimp, oysters, mullet and redfish and more of the deltas and bays in the South, to the quail, dove and black bear of the Wiregrass, to the buck deer, otters and more of the Black Belt, to the eagles and bobcats of the Cumberland Plateau, to the ducks and fowl of the highland lakes… we are certainly “blessed and then some.”

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Genesis 2:15. And I pray that we do… ‘keep it’ that is. That’s why we go… shepherding outdoors. I pray you do to.

Walt Merrell writes about life, family and faith.  An avid hunter and outdoorsman, he enjoys time “in the woods or on the water” with his wife Hannah, and their three girls, Bay, Cape and Banks. They also manage an outdoors-based ministry called Shepherding Outdoors.  Follow their adventures on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube at Shepherding Outdoors.  You can email him at shepherdingoutdoors@gmail.com.