Beautiful!

"...and all the children thought - and I agree with them - that there's nothing to beat good freshwater fish if you eat it when it has been alive half an hour ago and it has come out of the pan half a minute ago." C.S. Lewis The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

I've had a day so nice I must share it. After a productive morning I raced my way up the River to put a line in the water. I don't usually catch many fish and it is mostly and exercise in patience and the enjoyment of nature. This time, however, five beautiful trout chose to grace the end of my line. I will spare you all of the gory details of the fight, and which were caught on dry flies and which on subsurface flies. However, I did decide to keep two of the five. One because it was a nice fish and greedily grabbed at my fly as it floated on the surface. It was a planned attack, and a great moment of victory. The other I kept because he didn't allow me to get the hook from his mouth in time for him to have a chance at survival. That's okay...more fish for me. There are no pictures of the glory moments. However, the memories are strong. There are some pictures, however:

The catching was a riot. It was a bit overcast and gloomy with a mist in the air that almost seems to stand still as you walk through it. The river provides the most fantastic listening experience, it is amazing how you can hear so much and still feel like the words "peace" and "silence" some how apply perfectly. Then came the cooking.

I fished until 7:00 which means I didn't get home until 10 till 8, I really didn't each much today (besides a few donuts in the morning ). So I was ready to eat. Not long after I arrived April got home with the kids who had been spending the day with their grandparents who love them very much. The kids ooh'ed and ahh'ed at my catch (loved every second of that), and then let me put them to sleep without a fight. After they went down the cooking began! Salt, garlic powder, lemon juice and pepper all went into the tin foil pack and the pack went on the grill for 15 min. while the taters simmered. The results were delicious!

My mother was a bit concerned that I didn't "clean" the fish before cooking them. Well they aren't very big, and I don't mind eating around the fish innards nearly so much as I mind blemishing my fresh caught fishes with knife strokes. The fish was perfect. Soft, flaky, moist, and delicious. I am so thankful that our creator gave us fish to catch and eat. They really are a wonder. The taters were boiled and tasted remarkably like boiled potatoes. They were special in that they were grown by a brother in the Lord at our church body. That made them taste even better!

Of course a cup of decaf English breakfast tea had to be drunk with careful appreciation.

And all moves from better to best as my beautiful wife and I chatted about the events of the day over my late supper. She tolerated the fish smells without complaint and worked on the Sunday school lesson for tomorrow. Truly an amazing woman who I am so blessed to have and to hold, to love and to cherish.

Sometimes a day contains so much good that you may just think it will burst and leave even the other days overflowing. This was a day like that.