A Jake Tale

I was recently asked to tell a story about my son—this is one of my favorites:

Jake and I had been wading the Kankakee River for smallmouth bass one afternoon, late in September. We had a great time together fishing and exploring the river we both treasured. Twilight was approaching and we decided to call it a day.

It happened that the area farmers were racing to harvest the year’s grain before the predicted rain storms came in. Their frantic march across the fields with John Deere combines created a huge dust storm, fueled by winds that had been gusting all day. The tractors’ headlight beams cut through the night sky illuminating massive clouds of dust that made our ride out on the country road appear as if we were in a Mad Max movie. It was cool. I could see Jake was loving it.

I turned on the radio. Jake and I shared the same taste in music. With those dust storms rolling all around us, a song came on that seemed perfect: The full length—eleven minute version of the landmark rock song of the 60’s psychedelic era—Time Has Come Today, by the Chambers Brothers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHfB63ln1Ig

I cranked up the volume.  We were in a zone, heads nodding to the hammering beat, one with the music, engulfed in a futuristic dust storm as we tooled our way down the gravel road. A dad and his boy, bonding, sharing good times, creating memories—and then he turned toward me and said:

“Man, how long is this dumb song?”

Photo credit: Tindo2 / Foter / CC BY-NC