Today's weather in Sioux Falls is cloudy and a bit cool. Perfect fishing weather if you ask me. I haven't been fishing in probably 20 years. I would always go with my Grandfather. My family was fortunate enough to own some lake property at Rock Creek State Park near Kellogg, Iowa. During the Summer, my mother, grandparents and I would live there on the weekends and usually, Grandpa and I would grab the fishing pole and head down to the lake for a try.

 I loved the time alone with him in the boat. It wasn't much of a boat., a bluish-green rowboat is basically what it was. It did have a Mercury outboard motor and, when no one was looking, Grandpa would race it around the lake for me. It was exciting. What I most enjoyed was the silence I could share with him. The repeated sound of casting out and reeling in; the sound of the breeze moving across the lake and the sound of the water as it lapped against the side of the boat. The partial definition of serenity. I remember nearly every time we went fishing because it meant so much to me. Every once in a while, we would go fishing late at night, using dough balls as bait and it worked! I was always amazed that fish would bite on little rolled up pieces of bread. Don't know why. Guess I figured it always had to be another fish or a worm or something.

 In recent years, I have gone fishing with my father-in-law and my nephew but it just didn't have the same feel to it. When Austin and Cameron get older, I'll try it with them to see I can reclaim a little bit of the magic. By the way, you might be wondering what we did with the fish. We never ate one: we always threw them back. I'm not sure why. I guess for Grandpa the thrill came in the "chase", not in the actual "catch".

 My one regret on this topic is I never got to go fishing with him and his brother, Uncle Jim. They would take yearly trips to Canada and come back with these wonderful pictures of HUGE fish they had caught. Pictures of the cabins they would rent and the beards they would grow and the stories of how they would fish from sun up to sun down, go to bed and then start all over again. I really wish I could have done that just once but time does what time is supposed to do. It marches on and you either get a chance to do things or you don't. Ironically, today Austin was walking around the house with a Spider-Man fishing rod. I'm not sure where it came from but I made a note in my mind for him to hold on to that; hopefully he will get to use in some day on a lake with his dad.

 Quote Of The Day: "There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot." Steven Wright

 This Day In History: The famous debates between Senator Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln began in Illinois on this date, August 21st, 1858.

 Something You Should Check Out: I was dialing around the TV last night after I got home from work and landed on a show about Disneyland. One of the things they showed was the inside workings of the "It's A Small World" ride. I love this ride and grew to adore it after taking Austin on it. His eyes opened wide and you could tell he was in Heaven. I found a film of "It's A Small World" shot at Disneyland sometime in the 1970s. Enjoy!

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