Gone Fishin'

 

GONE FISHIN'

NOTE: My apologies to my friends and family living up north in the snow and cold. I wrote this blog a couple of weeks ago before the weather turned so rough! If it helps, we're having some cold weather here as well. But maybe reading this week's post will offer you all hope for a brighter and warmer tomorrow... 

Gone Fishin’ Part I

As a child, I lived on my grandparent’s farm. We had a pond. Fishing in that pond with my dad is my earliest memory of fishing. 

I learned how to bait my hook with a squiggly worm, toss the line in the water, and wait quietly for a fish to take the bait. 

Well, I was supposed to wait quietly, but that turned out to be the hardest part of the process.

We caught bluegill and sunfish in that pond. My dad may have hooked a bass or two, but bluegill and sunfish were my specialty. Mom cooked some of them. The flavor was great but I’d heard scary stories of fishbones getting stuck in your throat. That was not good.

My favorite fishing story from that farm, however, happened while I lived in Florida as a teenager. I was in high school when my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. The dreaded disease and the treatments he endured weakened him. 

The treatments were tough. Grandma did everything she could to take care of Grandpa. It was a challenge. He had trouble keeping food down. 

One day, he made the comment he would sure like some fresh fish. Grandma didn’t hesitate. She grabbed her hat and her fishing pole and headed out to the pond. She caught fish for grandpa, cleaned them, and cooked them just the way he liked them. 

But the invasive cancer and the treatment for it robbed him of his tastebuds. He couldn’t eat it.

Gone Fishin’ Part II

When Mike and I married, I was living in a house built on that same farm in Ohio. My grandparents’ farmhouse, barns, buildings, and fields had been replaced with a brick and mortar subdivision. The pond was no longer there. 

Our Lake

Mike and I bought a home on a lake in Florida. A place we could call our own. Before the wedding, Mike called me one day to tell me the rods and reels he’d ordered for me arrived. He bought me Zebco reels. Good choice. I had learned to use a Zebco reel when I lived in Florida those many years ago.

Our wedding in Ohio was exactly what we wanted. The next day, we headed to Florida, anxious to move into our new home. We hadn’t been here long when I stood on our dock and threw my line in the water. I caught my first bass from our lake. Now, that was fun. 

Though the bass was huge in my estimation, it was too small to keep and clean. Still, I got a picture with it, holding it out as some fishermen do in front of me to make it look a bit bigger than it really was. 

My First Catch

But now? Recently, my fisherman husband surprised me with new rods and reels. Real ones. Two bait casting reels and two “guaranteed for life” rods. (I wonder why I need that sort of guarantee, but I’m afraid to ask.) 

Anyway, I had my first lesson a few days ago on a sunny January day. We took the boat out across the lake where I would learn to cast my line. 

I don’t actually throw it out, uh…cast it... quite as far as I do in my mind, but I’m getting there. I learned a few lessons about backlash and I didn’t catch any fish. 

Still, it was a beautiful, sunny day on the lake with my husband. We saw some amazing birds, an otter, and very few humans.

I’ve come to believe this is the real secret of fishing. Not catching fish…It's catching a few of the suns rays, catching up on quiet time with someone you love, and catching a glimpse of the ebb and flow of God’s creation.

So, here’s the challenge… Create a little quiet time for yourself. Sometime this week, hang a sign on your door or your Facebook page that says, “Gone Fishin.”

Then...enjoy a day with someone you love. 

Ninety-four and Counting

 Ninety-four and Counting

This past week, my mother celebrated ninety-four years on this earth. While she used to frown on birthday parties, she has grown to appreciate them. 

Good thing. Mike and I invited a few members of the family and a couple of her close friends for a light lunch. We decided on cupcakes instead of a cake aflame with ninety-four candles. 

There was a fifty-year span between the youngest guest and the oldest. And…FYI… Mom wasn’t the oldest person in the room, either!

No balloons. No streamers. No noise makers.

             

Instead? Lots of food, good conversation, thoughtful gifts, and laughter. Lots of laughter.

I know how blessed I am to have my mom live near me. We enjoy walking in her neighborhood, playing games, and Friday night cookouts at our house. Hey…Mike grills a mean hamburger! 

I love it. I am fortunate to have her around to go shopping, grab something at Burger King, and laugh about…well, anything and everything.

For her birthday celebration, Mom wore her “Ninety Years and Counting” sweatshirt my oldest daughter, Allison, made for Mom’s ninetieth birthday. 

“I figure I could still wear it,” Mom told me. “I’m still on the ‘and counting’ part.” 

Keep counting, Mom. Keep counting.

If you are still blessed to have your mama around, give her a call. 

Or better yet, give her a hug. 

And Here's one more pic from the day!

Mom and my sister-in-law "freeze" at church, so Karen made sure to get Mom a warm wrap!

 

A Word for the Year

Choosing a Word for the Year

Word for the Year?

How about a Verse for the year?

Those of you who follow my blog know that I usually choose a word for the year. I started the practice after reading a blog posted by best-selling author Debbie Macomber many years ago when I began my writing journey.

I’ve gone through a series of words. Some have served me well. Others didn’t reveal themselves as readily, but in looking back, I see how the word surfaced in my life decisions and experiences.

I generally pray over the choice and God affirms the word I’ll use in some way. It may start popping up in conversations or in my daily Bible reading. 

It isn’t some sort of “mystical revelation.” Just experience and recognition.

Curiously, this year I landed on two verses and the very first word …the word TRUST, hit me in the face. And soul.

Proverbs 3:5-6. “5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

The passage goes on to say, 7 “Do not be wise in your own eyes…”

So, for 2026 I chose not only the word TRUST, I chose the whole passage. 

You see, over the course of time, life experiences have challenged my writing…my purpose, my platform, my ability.

I continue to write but often feel I am not up to the task.

I attended a writing conference in October, but for much of it I felt unprepared. Unnoticed. Inadequate. 

I wanted to meet agents or publishers, but I didn’t find a comfortable connection in those arenas. 

Curiously, though I write Women’s Fiction, I found the energy I longed for at the conference in the Children’s Literature track with Michelle Medlock Adams.

I don’t know if that will lead me anywhere, but I’m open to the possibility. In the meantime, I finished the rewrites on a book near and dear to my heart. I have a publisher interested in reading it and I submitted a short story to a children’s magazine. 

So, I will continue to write…and trust. I must. God knows so much more than I do about this stuff!

Do you have a word for the year? Or a verse? You don’t have to be a writer to choose a word. Just select one and see how it pops up in your life in 2026. 

It can be fun. And challenging!

  

 

Celebrating the New Year!

 Celebrating New Life...or Renewed Life!  

I don't know about you, but my New Year is off to a great start! 

This past week:

My daughter, Allison, and her husband, and my two oldest grandsons arrived from Ohio on New Years Day. They scheduled  a cruise leaving out of Florida, so they made sure to include a few days with us before the cruise. Of course, my mother was here to enjoy it all!

Family. That alone, is a gift.  

Still, we managed to enjoy a day of Christmas gift opening as well. Mike’s sister and his son (though I now claim them as my son, too) made sure to come over for a visit during Allison's family stay. In addition, two of the Waters’ uncles and an aunt who live in the area came for an evening of food and fun.

We didn’t ignore the tourist stuff, though. We went to Homosassa Springs to view the manatee. We discovered the state park is so much more. The venue is a zoo of sorts. It is a haven for rescued Florida wildlife. 

We saw birds of every shape, size and color, including flamingos, egrets, cranes, ducks, and pelicans.

We saw Fox Squirrels. (I’ve seen those in the wild.)  And red foxes. (I prefer not to see those in the wild.)

They had alligators, fish of every size and shape. Key deer, a bear, turtles, and of course beautiful, graceful manatee, swimming around the dock in the warm springs. We saw dolphins playing in the river beyond the springs. There is something calming and wonderful about water. 

The park is a sanctuary for injured creatures. It offers a place of healing. A new beginning. Isn’t that what we all want and need?

We start each new year with a list of dreams. Hopes. Plans. We vow to make this year better. 

We may need to allow our wounds time to heal. We may still bear a few scars from 2025. But my prayer for you…and me…. is that with God’s help, in 2026, we’ll keep swimming. And if we look for joy, we’ll find it. 

And if your joy button needs a little boost…I recommend Homosassa Springs. Or a nature center near you.

 

This Manatee appeared to smile at us!