June 16-17th marked the 31st annual Delta fishing trip for Dad and I. We traveled to Lake Beulah and fished for the first part of the afternoon. While we were there we learned that the gentleman that ran the Nibblet Landing on Lake Whittington had died 2-3 weeks earlier. This sad news heralded an end of an era as that dad and I had many great memories of him and our trips there thoughout the years. We then decided to travel to some new water on Lake Bolivar located near the town of Scott. It was a beautiful lake which we had pretty much to ourselves. We decided to spend the night in Cleveland and return on the morning of the 17th to fish and explore. We caught a total of 6 fish the entire two days, however we made some lasting memories. I guess I continue to get even more sentimental as I get older, but I could not help but think of how precious time the time that we have with our parents truely is. Just this past week a person that I knew had lost his dad to an untimely event. I brought dad back to Sturgis just as he had brought me over the years, crossing Red Bank we had returned as we had left together. As I returned to my home late afternoon today, I was struck with a severe case of melancholy. Another year had arrived and another cycle had repeated. I thought back over the two days and realized how quickly it had past. I thought back to us fishing, I looked at my dad as we sat next to each other in the boat as we have countless times before and thought how fortunate I was to still be able to enjoy his company. I listened to the wind blowing through the trees as we ate our cheese and crackers and never wanted it to end. Wanting to place these moments deep in my mind. Thank you so much dad for all the love and great memories that you have given me. I pray that if the day ever comes that we have to listen to the wind in the trees alone that we think of each other and smile.
