I don’t know about the rest of you, but whenever I go out to fish, I don’t set my expectations very high. Why risk the disappointment? Instead, I tend to look at each hour or so I spend out on the lake as an opportunity to multitask in a far more enjoyable way than I might if I were back at the office. And by that I mean, noticing the things going on near and far that you just can’t shrink wrap and ship; things like the slap of a screen door, the sweet smell of fresh cut hay. The sounds, the smells and certainly the very tone of lake front living just doesn’t get duplicated unless you take it in and stretch your perception to its max.
So here's a more than top 10:
The low hum of an outboard motor coming in from an early morning fishing excursion.
The joyful screeches of youngsters out on a raft daring each to jump in first.
A loon's call from across the lake.
The look on a young boy's face when he catches his first decent bass.
Going through an entire day in bare feet.
Making the last turn off the main road after a long drive home.
The lazy lap, lap, lap sound your neighbor's boat makes when the wind shifts.
The tug on your line you didn't expect.
Catching something unusual in your minnow trap.
Losing track of the date.
Being the last one to go to bed and the first one up in the morning.
Fresh coffee on the front porch.
Teaching your kids how to catch and hold a toad.
The woody aroma of a bonfire.
Sitting on your dock with nothing to do until lunch.
Reading the Sunday comics on Monday afternoon.
Hearing a dog bark from a mile away.
Walking through cold, wet grass with the warm morning sun on your back.
The smell of fresh bacon cooking from a nearby camp.
Enjoy your day!