June 20th 2014

     When I get in the boat in the morning with someone for the first time I never know who I'm fishing with. Now sure we've talked a bit before the trip, names exchanged, times to meet are set and directions are given but beyond that it's a roll of the dice who I'm spending the day with.
     This morning I had the privilege of fishing with Walter, Walter was an intelligence officer during WWII, and had some amazing life stories to share. Normally my day is focused primarily on one thing and thats putting fish on rods, I keep a constant watch for safety issues, share conversation, but underneath I'm doing all I can to find fish. Today it was Walter who stole the day, listening to him was beyond what you see on the history channel or more real than what you read in history books. Walter has a very unbiased view of the world and how it's run, today at the age of 78 he may not be on top of his game but he's still very up to date on what's going on in the world. Walter is a very well read and well traveled man, he shared with me stories of luncheons with various foreign dignitaries, and heads of states, he was in Dallas watching JFK roll past him the day he was assassinated.
     For Walter, our day was not as fruitful as he had hoped, we had gotten a late start in the morning and most of the water had been fished over before we got to it. For myself, the day was priceless, it was over before I knew it, and I left feeling like I got the most out of our day together. It goes to show you can't judge a book by it's cover, you never know who you're sharing space with, whether it be a seat in a boat or who is in line ahead of you in the grocery store. We all have a story to tell, and when we take the time it's amazing what we hear when we listen.