Thank You

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Many folks have a list they write. Things they want to do before they die list basically. The lists vary greatly. Some things on people's lists are too out there and unattainable. Some are too short sighted and not really challenging. The one common theme to all the lists is dreaming. Don't wait until near the end of your life to start marking off the items on the list.


I put things on my bucket list as I experience them. I have no idea what they are until I actually do them. These things need to make me feel alive and appreciative of what I have lived and what I have to look forward to.


The movie the Bucket List had the wrong idea. The two friends in the movie waited too long to go out and experience life and truly live it. They began their quests when both were diagnosed with a terminal disease.


About twenty years ago I was asked by an acquaintance to go trout fishing opening day. As the date neared the weather forecast looked atrocious. It called for eight to twelve inches. I contemplated calling off the outing. The guy was driving all the way from Chicago in the the snow storm so who was I to cancel if he wanted to still go.


I met up near my home and we both took our vehicles to fish. The rural roads had not been plowed and we were the first fools to barrel through the eight inches already on the ground. I had a SUV so I went first and blazed the trail. He had a all wheel drive Subaru Wagon.


We got to our first destination. It took us twice as long to get there as I planned. I geared up and layered up. There was no wind. The snow was falling in large flakes directly to the ground. The snow fall made no sound and drown out all other sounds and senses. Everything in life slowed down. It seemed like I was watching a movie with me in it in slow motion.


We placed ourselves on each side of a large beaver dam. We methodically fished the beaver dam for a couple hours. The snow continued to fall. Snow built up on the bill of my cap. My glasses fogged up often and I needed to clean them off. The snow went down the back of my neck. The snow felt good on my face and as it melted and went down the back of my coat. My shoulders were covered with snow. My senses were hyperactive and I was amazed at how much I enjoyed this outing. It made me feel alive and appreciate life more.


Most people hate snow but the feeling that day was quite the opposite. Words can not describe the day properly. We walked back to the vehicles and decided we had fished enough. Four more inches had fallen while we fished and he had to return to Chicago. We had both caught lots of trout but that really didn't matter that day.


I took off all of my wet gear and jumped into the front seat of my vehicle. I typically write in a fishing log book right away in the car so I won't forget names, numbers and conditions of the outing. I have kept log books for thirty-five years. I sat there for a minute with a huge smile on my face. I wrote one thing in the book for the day. Bucket List.
My fishing partner snapped a couple photos of me as we fished. I have fished with many anglers through the years. The day was so special and believe it or not I can not remember who I fished with that day and took this photo of me. All I can say is thank you.

[Grn Mt Man]

On one of the rare occasions that my dad took me hunting with him in the "Green Mountain" state of Vermont we also experienced an incredible snow day. Snow had fallen overnight to about eight or so inches and it was a cold but pretty much wind free day. Dad said to walk slowly and carefully and we are going to pause and listen every now and then. With all the fresh snow any noise coming from ground leaf coverage was out of the question but we listened every now and then anyway. I saw something slowly going in and out of a rock wall and brought dads attention to it. Turned out to be an albino looking weasel or something of that type. Memory of mine also has a slight problem going back about 63 years ago to 1952. As we slowly worked our way along I noticed that the few birds around had suddenly stopped chirping and there was now dead silence. Suddenly huge snow flakes starting coming straight down due to absolutely no wind. It was so quiet you could sometimes hear them touch down on tree limbs and such as they were so heavy. A few minutes later came an occasion I've never seen repeated before or since. An all consuming fog started slowly rising from the ground up instead of descending as usual. In a very short time our visibility was near zero. We could hardly see to the end of a rifle if we held it up. Dad said we'd have to stop and just sit for a while till visibility returned to more then the zero we were in now. We sat for quite a while and I lost track of time while trying to hear anything at all. Only an occasional dropping of a snow laden tree branch full disturbed our time. Many times I have wished for a camera that day to record the scenes. That day would be my first Bucket List item to record.

Thanks for sparking my memory Spinner.

Grn Mt Man