“Karen’s Noggin’ 🧠 Nuggets” #3 – August 18, 2022
WHAT DO GOD AND SEAWEED HAVE IN COMMON?
When growing up, our family spent many summers at lakes in Minnesota and Canada doing what we love…fishing! I learned early on that this is a fun sport, and you get lots of attention when you catch big ones, or at least big enough to be considered a ‘keeper’. We even started keeping a score of who caught what fish and who was the winner for the week with the most fish caught.
Those were great times full of fun, laughter, fresh fish cooked in bacon juice…yum, occasionally a pair of pliers down your throat to get the bone out that we missed when filleting, games every night, storytelling, swimming at the beach, and fishing morning, afternoon, and evening. We were serious about the fishing and always hopped in the boat with dad’s 50lb tackle box and extra poles ready in case your pole would go in the drink. We always ventured out in hopes we would catch a whopper!
After driving 550 miles to our destination in Minnesota, dad would spend the next few hours putting all the fishing poles together with the matching reels and making sure all the poles were ready with sinkers, lures, hooks, spinners, and strong enough test line, etc… He made sure everyone had at least a couple extra poles ready so it wouldn’t slow things down when it came to fishing. My father was prepared!
If you know anything about fishing, you know that it takes quite a bit of patience. Especially if the fish are not biting. Amazingly, my little undiagnosed ADHD brain could sit still in that boat. If the fish weren’t biting, we would at least get some activity from the seaweed. Some of the times when my hook would come in contact with the seaweed, I thought for sure it was a fish. Many times, I would yell out, ‘Dad, I got one only to be disappointed once again and reel in a bunch of seaweed that had covered up my minnow who was still hanging after being pulled through a good amount of seaweed. There were times that this seemed to go on longer than normal and we thought all we were getting was the bottom of the lake with each cast.
I was quite young, maybe 11 years old on this particular trip, and in my frustration with the seaweed, I came up with a joke. ‘WHAT DO GOD AND SEAWEED HAVE IN COMMON?’ Of course, no one had an answer, or at least not a suitable one and I was pretty excited that I had stumped the adults! After I had kept them in suspense long enough without being too obnoxious, I was ready for my big reveal of a joke I made up. I’m sure my face showed all that excitement and the proud feeling of knowing this is my joke.
‘WHAT DO GOD AND SEAWEED HAVE IN COMMON?’ They both act in mysterious ways!!!
I admit it’s not a knee-slapper of a joke, but it is mine and the meaning for me goes much deeper. I remember the moment so clearly sitting in the boat with just my folks fishing and enjoying the summer day. When I got that funny little joke, I also remember thinking…if I ever write a book or when I write a book, that will be the title of my book. ‘WHAT DO GOD AND SEAWEED HAVE IN COMMON?’ WOW!!! A dream was born that day 48 years ago on that small lake in the heart of Minnesota. I think I even drew what the book cover would look like because that vision is so clear in my mind. Even though the book is not written yet, the title is now on this blog and only God knows where it will go from here. I can honestly say that I’m thankful for the seaweed because that’s where a dream of mine was hiding.
After all those years, some things are still the same and my joke is still relevant. God is still mysterious (the Oxford Dictionary definition is…difficult or impossible to understand, explain, or identify) to me in ways that are beyond my comprehension. And that seaweed is still tricking young fishermen into thinking they just might have a bit on their line.
I wonder if you have a seaweed moment that maybe you forgot about? Or maybe you thought that if I got that idea, dream, or inspiration when I was so young, it doesn’t apply to me now. I encourage you to spend some time thinking about some ideas and dreams that may be lost amid the seaweed. You might just find a whopper that’s been waiting for you!
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Thank you for reading “Karen’s Noggin’🧠Nuggets” #3 August 18, 2022