Grant Ferris
Grey/Bruce Outdoors

Imagine being raised in an inner city with no opportunities to enjoy the best things in life. It’s a tragedy, but some of us are lucky and get a chance. 

I remember one night when I was fourteen, fishing behind the Ontario Reformatory in the Eramosa River. There were no lights along the river but the moon’s reflection on the fast water provided enough light for our young eyes. Suddenly, a big trout took my minnow and leaped out of the water in an enormous jump. I was so excited that my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. My cousin fishing beside me was just as thrilled, especially ten minutes later when I slid the hook-jawed male brownie up on the bank. It was only 22 inches long but to me it was a miraculous fish. The rare and wary brown trout, the fish of legends and one not easily caught.

The next fall we were perched in a flooded bush at a small opening where we thought ducks might land. As the sun set and the shadows made the bush behind us a wall of darkness, we suddenly heard the rush of wings as a flock of mallards dropped almost straight down into our little clearing. I hope I never lose the memory of that day, the feel of the polished gunstock; the smell of burned gunpowder and the noise of those surprised ducks swirling off the water to safety. 

My first good-sized rainbow hit a worm I was fishing in the Bighead River. It was a difficult week, waiting for opening day and lying awake at night dreaming of the fish I hoped to catch. The greatest thrills result from prolonged expectation and a fish can be caught many times in your dreams before the fact. After a day of watching the adults catch fish, finally it was my turn and just like I was told, I felt the trout’s distinctive tap-tap-tap before it ran with the bait. Afterward I remember trying not to laugh with joy and relief, trying hard in order to appear cool and collected. It was such a thrill.

Outdoors adventures offer many such natural highs, feelings of accomplishment that are wired into human minds so we feel pleasure when we achieve a goal. There are lots of healthy pleasures waiting in the outdoors, the thrill of surging through rapids in a canoe, watching a dog work a trail or making a perfect retrieve, the sound of a grouse thrumming into flight as you walk past, a perfect sunset or sunrise that marks the beginning or end of a wonderful day… and a world of others just waiting to be lived.

One of the greatest gifts you can give a child is to teach them to enjoy these gifts of nature, the sights, sounds and smells of our natural world. It’s a great alternative to the harmful thrills that are reached for by those who know of nothing else.