Article 7 – Family Spot 2070 and Global Warming

Lance Laycock

Today I decided to take my grandson to an old, secret fishing spot of our family. The same place my grandfather took me to as a kid and his grandfather did before him. Fishing at that spot is our family tradition, and it has been passed down from one generation to the next, for the last century. These are the same stories I hear again and again from my grandpa, my dad, and my uncle.
I will never forget the first time when my grandpa took me there. The old family house sat across from a shallow creek that led out to the lake. We would load up an old riding mower full of everything we needed for the fishing trip: Rods, baits, snacks, and drinks. My grandfather would often let me drive the mower across the dirt road to the creek. In the creek, an old wooden dock sat just above the water. Next to the dock, an old metal rowboat lay half in and half out of the water tied to the dock by a frayed old yellow rope. It wasn’t much, but it never mattered at the end of the night when we would come home with dinner.
Sixty years have now passed, and I still haven’t forgotten the nostalgia that I felt those days, and that is why I have finally decided to do the same with my grandson. I know it will never be the same the way the world looks now, but I have decided that I don’t want to be the one to end our family traditions.
Today, I picked my grandson up in my car to go to the old family spot. Ben is his name, and he is fifteen years old now, much older than I was when my grandpa took me there. I always love spending time with Ben because he has lots to say. I wasn’t expecting it when he was immediately curious about the fishing gear. He asked me, “Grandpa, have we fit everything in the trunk?” I just said, “yeah.” I assured him that we have everything we would need, but that was a lie.
We drove to the old family house where my grandparents once lived. It took about three hours from the city we currently live in. Ben and I talked about his favourite sport, hockey. Boy! He loves hockey so much that in every conversation, we must talk about hockey. He asked me to come and watch him play hockey more this winter because he realized I didn’t make many games the winter before. I love to watch Ben play, but as I’m growing older, I am less mobile and it is harder for me to make the trip across the city to watch him play.
The sports chatter eventually died down, and we switched over to school. Ben was almost finished his first year of high school and had done well. I am proud of him. I told him stories about my time in high school and when I played hockey. It almost did not seem real to him because it was so long before he was born. I enjoyed the drive out as our conversation made the trip seem shorter than it was.
I stopped just before the road turned to dirt and parked the car for a moment to prepare myself. It has been almost 40 years since my last time here. Back then, it was bad. Ben asked me about the last time anyone had been here. I even didn’t know the answer. We sold the land when I was about eighteen, so it must be sometime before that.
I put my car back in to drive and we continued a few more kilometres down the road. Finally, we came upon an old, white, broken-down home. The windows were boarded up and the white paint was faded and had chipped away over the years. The roof had caved in on itself, and nature had clearly taken it over.
Ben turned to me and asked if this was the place. I heard what he said, but I was still too caught up in the old house and all the memories. Eventually I clued in while still looking out the window at the old house. I finally told him we aren’t fishing today. Ben looked at me with the most confused look. He must have thought I was about to murder him. I laughed and told him to look out the window at my side to the area I was pointing at. Ben was more confused and had no idea what I was talking about. That’s the old creek I told him about. Ben looked over, and an open field without any water in sight was there. Even the dock had rotted into the tall grass that covered the entire field. Ben wondered why we could not just drive up to the lake and fish off the shore. I smiled with no response. I just shook my head and put the car back into drive.
We continued on our road trip for about another kilometre before we came to the end of the dirt road. It led to open marshland, and again, no sign of a lake in sight. We both got out of the car. I asked Ben if he knew where we were. He scanned the area pretending to have an idea as to what was going on. I smiled at his antics, but I grew ready to tell him what was going on with a serious tone. Looking at Ben, I told him that the marshland he’s looking at used to be the lake. He still didn’t quite understand what was happening; so, I began to break it down. I pointed far out at the open marsh and said to Ben. “This is the old secret fishing spot of our family. Over the years, the lake has dried up. It could be from global warming. It could be something else. All I know is the lake isn’t here.”
“Why did you bring me here then?” Ben asked me.
“So that I didn’t end our family tradition,” I responded.
A little upset with this news, Ben looked over to me now and asked, “Well, if I have grandchildren, where am I supposed to take them? The lake has already gone, and it’s gonna be a field by that time!”
Chuckling now, I looked over to Ben and responded, “Well, that’s it, isn’t it? That is why I brought you here. You might think it is not our problem that we lost our family fishing spot. But that is the problem of global warming. If we don’t take care of our world, we will all lose something. That is just how the world works, and now the problem has been left for the younger generation to think.”

Author’s Bio: Lance Laycock was born in 1998 in Thompson, Manitoba, and raised there as well. He grew up playing multiple sports such as golf, hockey, and lacrosse. His grandparents owned a small piece of land in southern Manitoba, where his family would spend every summer during his childhood. He loves spending time outdoors when he is not in school or working. Camping, fishing and sitting by the fire are his favourite past times.

Instructor’s Remarks: Lance Laycock is currently taking the course Major Authors and Works of the 20th Century (ENG 1015). Through this course, he has not only learnt how to write about literary works, but also how to create his own literary work. In his memoir, “Family Spot 2070 and Global Warming,” Lance adopted a first-person narrative to tell about his family tradition from his grandfather’s perspective. It is a good way to give the voice to his grandfather whose desire was to pass down the family tradition, as well to teach his grandchildren to protect the earth. (Dr. Ying Kong)