Picture of the day - August 13, 2008

Water lilies...and precious memories

Photo courtesy of Thomas Pate. My dad absolutely loved to fish and we kids never missed an opportunity to go swimming, so we spent many of our summer days when we were growing up at one of our favorite fishing/swimming holes. We would spend hours on end splashing around in the water and having a grand ole time while dad pulled out fish after fish somewhere a bit farther "down the bank". We always hated for those days to end, and quite often the fun continued right up until well past dark. I can recall many an evening spent sitting beside the water wrapped up in a beach towel long after the last rays of the setting sun had become little more than a memory. Exhausted from the days activities, we would patiently sit and stare at the water while dad tried his luck "just one more time", the joys of the day just past still dancing in our minds. As the years passed by we "kids" pretty much lost interest in jumping in a pond or river and splashing around and actin' a fool, but dad never lost his love of fishing. He spent the last few years of his life sitting on a bench most every day watching the fish in his small pond pop up between the leaves and blossoms of the water lilies to eat the crumbs of bread that he would toss into the water. He enjoyed those simple pleasures just as much as we had enjoyed swimming so long ago, and I thank the good Lord that he was able to enjoy them for virtually his entire lifetime.   Click here to comment on this picture.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!                                 Place the "Picture of the Day" on your website, for free! Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"