I am sitting in a fold up lawn chair overlooking a very small, pristine, lake. The morning fog has left a wet sheet of water over the grass below my feet. Not a breath of wind is moving the air. The lake is a mirror reflecting every fine detail of the surrounding beauty. Leaves drop at a constant rate, birds chirp, and a squirrel rustles through the leaves as it gathers its winter meals. The sunlight hits the lily pads and makes them seem as if they are going to rise into the sky. As I peer across the water, nature’s beauty literally takes my breath away.

The leaves, multi colors of orange, red, yellow, and green are all changing colors. The Fall season has begun. When I look up into the sky, ducks are flying under the spotty clouds like freckles on a child's face. The waterfowl are fearless and fly mindlessly as they know instinctively the long migration South is underway.

The non migratory birds are flying around the reeds searching for sticks to bring back to their nests which are under construction, preparing for winter. Ducks in the lake swim circles, contemplating the long migration south to warmer temperatures. They will wait for a different day when there is more wind to push them on their away.

A small flock of four geese flies over the serene lake, returning from a wheat field in which they had just foraged on the last of the forgotten seeds. They appear as if they have nothing to worry about. Their wings are locked up and feet down as they ease closer and closer to the water’s surface. Their feet skim across the calm water and make a perfect, smooth landing. Watching them glide across the calm water made me think about water skiing. I love to ski and do many different kinds of skiing behind the boat. I can trick ski, slalom, and have even tried barefooting. I am not very good at that, though. The geese are a lot more graceful than I am. The countless hours I have spent with my family and friends out on the lake have been memory makers. During the summer, being on the boat and active is one thing in which my family always enjoys together. My family is always busy and we split apart and do our own tasks during the day, and when we really come together is times like skiing and being at the lake. We can never get enough of the sunset glissing off the lake while my siblings and I take turns slaloming on the lake which doesn’t have a single ripple on it.

I realize the dew from the fog has seeped through my feet and folding chair.  Now, I am cold and beginning to shake. I decide to stand up to see if that will warm me up. As I stand, a largemouth bass broke the surface as if he had just cracked a mirror. I then reflect back on the times I spent fishing with my dad. I would wake him up before the sun even thought about saying good morning. I would lose many hours of good sleep so I could spend time with him and attempt to outfish him. He always let me reel in his fish saying they were too heavy. I got to count those catches for my total. That is how I always won. I would go back home and tell Mom that I outfished Dad again; she would always laugh and say that he needs to practice. My dad always told me while we were spending time together, no matter what we were doing, that I need to do the same thing for my kids. I need to go fishing, hunting, and practice sports with them. I understand that now! That is why I remember all these memories of the past. It is because just to spend a little time with my dad or learn how to tie a fishing knot is what I lived for when I was little.

A grouse beats his drum.

The sights, sounds, smells and feelings I have taken in sitting here has brought me back to my favorite memories of the past. Nature and the beautiful outdoors has brought many of my most cherished memories. The wind picks up and gently glides a leaf onto my lap as it makes its trip to the ground.  I brush it off and stand up. The sound of my chair folding up ends the pristine silence.