Holy cow! As of Wednesday evening, I thought I had a free day on Thursday. Driving home from the office, thinking about Thursday, I was planning a little fishing, a little nap, a little studying and perhaps visiting with my neighbor or maybe some swimming/floating off the pier in the backyard. I had been planning to have a friend over that evening to fish the backyard and was looking forward to the conversation... Barely got home and daughter-in-law calls wondering if I can take my 7 year old grandson to school at 7 in the morning. Absolutely... Love being with and talking with grandkids...These kids are geniuses when we can keep them away from video games. So, I can fish a tad later... Go to men's group Wednesday evening and learn that a strong contributor to our group has passed away and they are having a memorial service Thursday at 11 and could use a hand with the meal following the service. Sure... So, I drop the grandson at school and drive up to Flint lake for 90 minutes of trolling and playing catch with average to decent size crappies. Trolling at 1.2 mph on the I Pilot with 1/16 oz jigs/twisters and in 90 minutes, collect 15 crappies with the biggest at 11" and most at 8-9". Never fished deeper than 10' of water and just followed the shoreline. The sky was overcast but the air was a bit heavy. Trolling along in the boat is such a relaxing blessing. Head for home, clean up and head to church to help with the meal. Thoroughly enjoyed serving that meal and comforting and encouraging the guests and family -- reminiscing about what a wonderful person this friend was for so many... When I was a newby, I vividly remember him looking over at my bible and asking me if I ever read or used it. I said sure and he said it looked too clean. I wasn't sure what to say and looked over at his bible and it was written on and highlighted everywhere and from that point on, I started recording thoughts in the margin of my bible. Ran an errand and got a call my evening fishing partner had to cancel so, that nap just might happen... Swam off the pier for 30 minutes or so and now for that nap... No, No... Son calls and needs a hand and wants to know if when we are done, if I want to hit the big lake and grab some perch. Sure... Head out to the big lake at about 5:30 and launch at Portage and head for Michigan City. That Ranger with that monster outboard really scoots as I noticed 51 mph and just cruising along the shoreline. We fished just west of Michigan City with a group of about 7 other boats in 32' of water. We had 3 men fishing and caught 33 nice fish from 6-7:45. Some were close to 12" and nothing was kept under 8". Common perch rigs with simple minnows and good conversation convinced these perch they needed to be in our boat. The sunset was breath taking... Still makes you stop and just stare... Enjoyed the ride on the boat back to Portage and on the ride home, the consensus was that I should take the fish and clean them. Sure... They were on ice, in a cooler so I saved that task until after office hours today. Got home, changed clothes and set up my fish cleaning station with some ice and put on two sermons --one on gluttony and one on pride. Had the garage door open with the back service door open and a floor fan blowing... Just a beautiful late August summer day -- cleaning perch -- looking over on the counter top and amazed at the 41 nice tomatoes my grand daughter (age 2) and I picked and washed on Monday along with some cucumbers - just soaking in and reviewing the past 24-48 hours and this gratitude just overwhelmed me... It never ceases to amaze me that just when I think I have the perfect day figured out, seldom do things go as planned and somehow, someway the day is full of incredible opportunities to enjoy... Summertime, perch, produce, breath... Yes, the barn is full and we are grateful... God is good... looking forward to what tomorrow brings...