Rare days

     As I walked out to my truck this morning I was in awe of the beauty surrounding me. Days like today are rare in the Pacific Northwest. The summer sun has warmed the lake and the mist moves across the water like a ghost. There are numerous bass boats among the reads and Lillypads. They glide silently across the water in search of that record largemouth. The valleys below are shrouded in a blanket of fog but up here in the mountains this sky is a brilliant blue. Everything around me is green. A Doe with twin fawns in tow is grazing in the field behind our home. The sound of a freight train echoes from the valley below. A myriad of birds are singing a morning song and in the sky above a bald eagle and osprey  fight over a fish the osprey caught. I loathe the idea of driving to work. My retirement clock said 168 days this morning but with contract negotiations at a stand still working another year or two might be closer to reality. Time will tell.

 

    The temperature soared into the mid-nineties by early afternoon so we took the dogs to the Toutle river to cool off and have a little fun. Our black Labrador " Cash " is 13 years old and this was the first time he acted his age. He is such a good dog. I know he won't be with us for too much longer. I wish we didn't have to get old. I wish we could stay the way we are right now.  He swam across the river and back twice chasing after us but then was content to lay in the sun. He is grey in the muzzle and long in the tooth. I will miss that dang dog. Our daughter turned 16 a month ago. She will be out of High School and on to Nursing School in just two short years. My eldest grand-daughter is already 8 years old. The time slips away. One day I will be like Cash. One day I will no longer be able to do those things that I enjoy so very much.

    The days are rare. There is only one of each of them. They slip away quietly until they are gone. I find it sad that I spent 3/4 of my life without paying attention to them. I never saw the beauty of the sunset or rejoiced with the birds as the first light of day greeted the world. It took so long to see what a wonderful place it is in which we live. I never saw how much there is to live for until I was forced to face my own mortality. I hope that as my children and grand-children grow that I can impart this one lesson learned. The days are rare. Don't let a moment slip away. Open your eyes to all that is around you. Life is such an amazing gift. Don't squander it on that which is material. Most of what I have spoke of  here was learned from my wife. Thank you Mandy for showing me the light. yolo, Todd