Many children have appeared on this page over the past 11 years to honor their passion for the outdoors, including one who was especially dear to me.
His name was Daniel Philip Hendricks. He died in an automobile accident last Saturday on U.S. 70 in Garland County near the Arkansas 128 turnoff.
He was 22 years old. He was my son.
Daniel's dearest friends were those who shared his passion for the outdoors. We have revisited a lot of photographs over the last week, and Daniel is happiest in those that were taken during his many outdoor adventures. He was everywhere, it seems, but he was especially fond of the area around Haw Creek Falls, Iron Springs, the Buffalo River and the mountains of Moab, Utah.
His fiance, Tessa Tackett of Bauxite, said, "If there was a tree, he was going to climb it. If there was a rock, he was going to stand on it, and if there was a cliff, he was going to walk right to the edge of it."
And, he would argue all day with a fencepost, Tackett said.
Ya think?
When he was about 5-years old, our family visited Black Mesa State Park, at the edge of the Oklahoma Panhandle where it meets Colorado and New Mexico.
Just outside the park, we passed a herd of about 20-25 pronghorns beside the road.
My sons Ethan and Matthew were jubilant as they gazed at the stately creatures through the window.
Daniel was furious. He was looking through the window on the other side of the van, where there were no antelope.
"They're over HERE, Daniel!" we all yelled.
He refused to come to the other window. He cried bitterly and accused us of lying.
His cousin Jill Chase of Bauxite recalled a trip to the Little Rock Zoo when Daniel was about 4 years old. At the tiger enclosure, Daniel turned to Jill and said, "Let me down there. I'm going to ride that tiger!"
That was the essential Daniel, adventurous and utterly fearless.
Daniel was too restless to enjoy hunting, but I was beside him when he killed his only deer. It was during the 2009 muzzleloader season at Old Belfast Hunting Club in Grant County.
I hoped for a lifelong deer hunting fellowship, but he'd punched that square on his life card, and he was on to the next thing.
In 2011, we hunted ducks with Sheffield Nelson and other members of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission at Hampton Reservoir near Stuttgart. I have seldom seen so many ducks, and I stood beside him as he shot his first limit. He handled his Remington 870 Youth Model 20-gauge with the skill of a gold medal trap shooter.
After that hunt, he was so enthusiastic that he declared himself a duck hunter. I bought him a fine pair of waders, a parka, gloves and other duck hunting gear.
A couple of weeks later, on his 17th birthday, we hunted on Lake Dardanelle with my friend Alan Thomas. It was brutally cold, and we broke thick ice to reach our hole. The wind slashed, our noses ran and our teeth chattered like castanets. We killed one mallard and one goose, and were lucky to get them.
"You had it as good as it gets, and now you've had it as bad as it gets," I said. "Now you're a duck hunter."
I was mistaken. Daniel didn't have the patience for dull hunts, especially uncomfortable ones. He was done with ducks.
That was our last hunt together, but Daniel was a child of the water, and we continued to have some great fishing trips. The ill-fated 2011 Spring Break Float on the Buffalo River is a Glen Rose legend.
Daniel joined the Marines in 2012, and he didn't have much time for Dad after that. That is the natural order for fathers and sons, but young men always return to their roots.
At least, they do if they have time.
Dan's time ended -- fittingly for a Marine -- on Memorial Day weekend.
His parting gift is a grandson, Daniel Philip Hendricks Jr., due in October. His uncles, aunts and I will see to it that he puts his daddy's fishing and camping gear to good use.
Fathers, mothers, hold your sons close. The time you spend outdoors with your kids is time without walls. There are only bridges.
Be on your way, my son. Scope us out some good fishing holes for when we're together again.
Sports on 06/05/2016