DO NOT STEAL. This illustration has been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.

This is a piece I am working on for a children's book. When I was a young child growing up my Dad taught me how to fish. He smoked a pipe and is favorite time to smoke was when he went fishing. His pipe would be clenched in his teeth as he loaded the boat onto the trailer and off we'd go. We would head out to a lake in the wee hours of the morning while the mist was still on the lake and fish. The smoke would swirl around us and drift into the air. I imagined the smoke would lure the fish to us.

I loved to watch my Dad pack his pipe and just the smell of a pipe brings back warm memories of my times with him. He use to have a rack with all different kinds of uniquely carved pipes but alway had a favorite one he liked to use. Thankfully, he quit smoking long ago which is so much healthier for him and I would so much rather have my Dad with me than the smell of that smoke. Secretly I still miss that smell though. I know he does too, we talk about it sometimes. My Dad taught me many valuable things in life which I will always hold dear. He taught me the love and caring of family and values of honesty and integrity and dignity. I remember many times when things got tough, he told me that you have to just pull yourself up by the bootstraps and keep on going, yet he was always right there with me. He was right, and I remember what his words every time things get rough. Here's to you Daddy, you are my Hero!

(The illustration was created from an actual photo of my Dad, holding up a big fish he caught from the river where he lives).

I apologize for the copyright over the illustration however much of my work has been stolen and posted all over the internet without my permission.