6/8/15

Places I love...

The Places I love: Today I started my writing class.  Our first little writing prompt was perfect for Me Monday.  It asked us about our favorite places and here is where I ended up:

Places I love most are those that take me to a place where I can be surrounded by nature and where I can contemplate the complexities of life(or the simples of life).
Perch Lake is one of those places for me.  The lake is nestled among thousands of trees in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.  It is a picturesque place where the water is blue at first glance but when you get closer to the edge, it becomes completely clear.  On a calm day with no wind, you can see the reflection of the clouds upon the surface as if you were looking into a mirror.
Here, on my favorite sandy edge, I would put a worm on the end of my line.  The goal was to land a big Bass but usually,  I would just end up drowning the worm which is perfectly okay with me because, as most fishermen know, fishing isn’t all about the fish.  Fishing is about taking in breaths of crisp fresh air and breathing out all care and worry.  It’s about watching the massive, fluffy white clouds roll by and if you fortunate enough, to shoot the breeze with another fisherman.
The best trips to Perch Lake included my fishing buddy, Don.  Don is a character and had the wisdom of having weathered years.  At first look, you may confuse him with a character from “Grumpy Old Man,” which he could be one of them, but he also has a charm about him.  He was always a complete gentleman as he would always bait my line.  (Little did he know that I was very used to the slimy goo that comes along with using live bait.) As he would do the dirty work of baiting the line, he would answer my questions of where the best places to cast for the big fish were by only saying, “you never know,” a line that still drives a lot of my life’s philosophy.  If only Don had been thirty years younger, he would definitely have been in the running for my best eternal fishing buddy but, alas, timing just wasn’t right for us, but I did get the chance to find my best fishing buddy, Reuben.

And by far, the best trip to Perch Lake included Reuben. We went to try our lines just after we were married in 2012.  We both caught bass that day and a lifetime of future fishing expeditions to come.

What are your favorite places?