I have always been a water dog

Since I was a child I have enjoyed being in, near or around the water.

I was always around ponds or lakes fishing with my Dad, his father, Orville, or my great grandfather Cecil.

I can remember damming up creeks to create pools of water large enough to swim in as a kid. I loved building little boats to float down stream. Later, when we moved to Belpre, I had a family friend who lived on the Ohio River. Probably to the detriment of my health I swam in the Ohio all during my teenage years.

Later when I went to live out east I would be romanced by the ocean. I loved going to Cape Cod and Nantucket at some point every summer. Maine also holds a special place in my heart for its lakes and for the rocky coast.

And now the pond in Vermont is my personal sea. I have paddled all along the shore and all the way around its 100 acres. I have paddled into its secret coves and marshes in search of– ducks, beaver, loons, moose, and blue heron to observe.

I have fished at night with just the moon above for light. We have watched the beaver swim back and forth in front of our camp smacking his tail on the water – trying to scare us away. I have snow shoed across it in the deep of winter.

And in each instance I never fail to acknowledge the blessing that water and this earth is to all of us.

Psalm 42:7 "Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me."