December Ramblings

Well it's Thursday morning the 2ND of December, 2010 and as I try to conjure up another fishing story from the past, I am reminded that there are only 23 days until Christmas! The good news is... that there is only three more weeks until the holiday rush is over and our wintry thoughts can now focus exclusively on ice fishing. Until then I will try to make the most of this Christmas season.

Snow flurries fell in Chicago yesterday! The flakes didn't add up to much but it really looks like winter is here to stay. Forecasters predict a few inches of white powder for Friday night and cold temps for most of next week. The ice should get to forming quickly but in Chicago there are no guarantees that safe ice will stay during the beginning of December. We will keep our fingers crossed.

Shirley has now fell victim to the head cold that has plagued me since Thanksgiving day. I hope she will recover a little bit quicker than I have. It could be a long day around here fighting over the better couch, the tissue box and the TV remote. Something tells me she will not be up to watching fishing videos all day.

This cold infected mind couldn't come up with a new fishing story, so I thought I would share with you a post from about a year ago. I read it all the time and it is probably my favorite post. I hope you enjoy it!

The First Snow...

As my son Bryan walked down the stairs this morning, his first word was "WOW!" The sight of the first new snow of the season had filled his eyes. It can have that affect on you. Although I knew that a coat of fresh new powder was waiting for me, I followed him down the stairs with almost the same reaction. I grabbed my first cup of hot coffee, bundled him up for school, and sent him out the door. "Is it snow or is it Christmas sugar?" I asked. "Christmas!" he shouted back.

He walked toward the bus stop with an extra bounce in his step. I closed the door and stopped to take in the beauty of the new Christmas snow. Then I began to remember my youth and the excitement of that first snow. Sitting in a classroom at St. Theresa's and watching the first new flakes falling from the sky. How I couldn't wait to spring from that chair to go out and become a part of its wonder. As I stared out the now half snow covered window, a sudden pull of the rope from Miss Gorman had now closed the shade and I was quickly reminded that I still had half of the school day to complete. Those last 3 hours seemed like they would last forever.

I headed back to the kitchen to pour another cup of coffee, and I started to think. How lucky we are in the Midwest to be able to enjoy the splendor of the four seasons. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. The first new fallen snow, the warm days of spring, the golden evenings of summer, the bright red and orange maple leaves of fall. We are truly blessed with what we have been given.

As a fisherman I experience that magic many times during the cycle of the seasons. It never stops amazing me. Raindrops falling on a still lake, the rings how they merge together. Each sunset on the water is more beautiful than the one I had witnessed the day before. Reflections of the fall foliage on a calm bay as my lure makes that first splash. The sound of ice shifting beneath your feet on a quiet overcast winters afternoon. Those are the moments were time stands still. A picture, painted in my memory forever. I had one of those pictures painted for me today, of my son, standing on a snow covered sidewalk shouting "Christmas." Thank you God!