SITTIN ON THE DOCK OF THE LAKE

Ten or twelve small mouth bass looking much like pale green mini-torpedos shot out from beneath the dock as our sandalled feet slapped across its aluminum surface. After placing our small blue cooler in the shadows next to the pontoon boat I carefully rigged up my fishing pole as my wife dangled her calves in the cool blue water. Another great day to be retired.

Of course it wasn't long before the non-fisher questions and chatter began;

"Do you think we should angle the lift out a bit?" the foot dangler almost immediately asked as I cast my lure. "Do you think Rich needs to move his out a bit?" she continued, "He said he wanted it out deeper".

Still nursing her small glass bottle of some sort of pre-mixed tequila, she also sweetly inquired if I had noticed her shiny red toenail polish as I whipped a lure back over my shoulder and out into the lake. Smiling with the understanding that comes from nearly forty years of marital bliss, I replied with complete honesty, "You look really hot, baby!" Lord knows, she still does to me.

Not all that many years ago I wrote a song about the things I would miss if either myself or the love of my life were no longer around. Even with the seemingly never ending questions there is no doubt nothing would ever be the same. There are so many things I would miss:

WHATS OUT THERE?

Whats out there? I haven't got a clue,
But I know what I'm gonna miss
When my old Nikes ain't
Runnin down the roads anymore

Out on the front porch, with a tall cold drink
And the softest lips that I know,
And the way your breath kinda tickles
The inside of my ear...
After the years, go by.

I like the way that you look in the tub
And the bubbles look like islands
In a stream and we're thinkin about
Maybe sailin on over to the bed,
Yeah thats a good dream, inside my head
And I know that someday its gonna end,
Maybe in heaven we can do this
All over again...my best friend,
After the years, go by.

After all the years have come and gone,
Will our memories still live on and on,
Or just fade away like footprints in the sand?
It would seem so sad to me,
If for all of eternity,
All we'd done was nothing but...a memory,
After the years go by.

And so, with the admonition that we remind ourselves of each day we are fortunate enough to see another vibrant red sunset sinking behind the pines; "Enjoy life because you never know what will happen tomorrow". I truly did enjoy today honey. Hope you did too, even if I was a bit quiet at times.