What are you LOOKING AT?

Driving with me could be an adventure.

If you have ever read this column before you already know that.

So what’s new? Well one thing I may have never divulged publicly is that I spend way more time looking in the air, fields and surrounding landscape when I’m driving than I do looking at the road.

My nine-year old daughter graciously pointed that out to me the other day saying, “Dad aren’t you supposed to look at the road when you drive?”

I told her, “I know where the road is, it isn’t going anywhere!”

So you might be wondering what in the world am I looking for while I’m driving?

Pretty much anything that most people pass by everyday, you know, cool things that unless you are looking for them you will surely miss.

For example one might see a flock of turkeys walking through a field, an alligator sunning on the side of the road, a 4 pt. buck hiding behind an oak tree, an eagle carrying dinner back home, a hawk being harassed by a mocking bird or various other sights.

Now don’t just think that this only applies to driving a car or truck.

Actually I’m just as distracted, focused as a boat driver.

Last month we celebrated Spring Break over at Lake June in Winter in Lake Placid. For most of us Floridians it was too cold to swim or tube but not for my two. They could not get enough tubing in during the week.

I’ve learned through many years of boat driving that there is quite the show you can watch while carrying on conversations and pulling people on the tube. My ability to spot birds, fish or other animals at great distances is a skill I take great pride in. I love being able to say, “Look at that…” before anyone else sees what I see.

My favorite activity this time of year through late July is to look for Largemouth Bass that have taken on a meal a bit big for their bite. At least 5 times that I have witness I’ve found a fresh floundering feeding fish that is nearly expired from attempting to eat a smaller fish. The smaller fish gets lodged in the mouth of the bigger fish and causes the mouth of the bigger fish to stay open and the larger fish is unable to go under the water. So in essence I’m a fish saver, except for the fact I usually keep them and eat them.

This March was no exception. I was tubing my kids when I spotted a large object up ahead. I slowed the boat much t0 the chagrin of my passengers. I’ve found trash, hats, and large fish. This day it was about a 7 pound bass trying to eat an 11 inch bluegill. I leaned over the side reached in the water and lifted in dinner, all to the cries of impatience, “Dad, not again! Do you always have to pick fish up out of the water?”

As we started to tube again off in the distance I pointed out to my wife, look! An Osprey had just swooped down, an grabbed a huge fish and was flying back to its nest with lunch, simultaneously across the lake I saw another Osprey make a u-turn and immediately follow the Osprey that had caught a fish back to the nest. I could almost hear the second Osprey say, “YES! She caught something, I don’t have to fly around anymore, I’m starving, way to go honey I’ll be right there!.”

These questions and lack of interest in my past time only make me all the more fervent. So the next time you see my truck slow down, or the boat I’m driving come to a stop in the middle of the lake don’t worry, I’m most likely just slowing down long enough to see something that you would have other wise passed right on by.

So next time your out for a drive whether by land or sea take a look around you’ll most likely see a show you’ve never seen .