Just a brief entry this morning....we're already late.

I'm fortunate here in New England....I've got the Atlantic Ocean a mere 12 miles away from my front door, with miles of coastline, beaches....and fishing piers.

For about a decade, I spent my summer weekends as an unpaid deckhand aboard a private boat owned by a family member. We took family, guests, and the ocassional paying customer out of the Saugus river out to the Boston Harbor Islands for bottomfish, or 35 miles out to sea to Stellwagen bank for the big bluefish.

Well....you know the drill. Eventually, I got married, then the family member died and we sold the boat...then young Javi came along. My days on the sea became a distant memory.

But then this spring I started working for the Outdoor Discovery School at LL Bean. One of the things the school does is a fly-casting class. So, somewhat inspired, I dug out an old bamboo fly rod that I inherited when my grandfather passed; it's been gathering dust in the cellar for over a dozen years now.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it might actually be worth something. I haven't been by the store to see the resident expert yet, but who knows. It's certainly not going in the water anytime soon!

In any case, for the first time ever, I bought a freshwater fishing license this year. There's two tubs of nightcrawlers sitting on my dining room table, and as soon as we finish breakfast we're heading over to Spy Pond in nearby Arlington for a morning of fishing.

It's birthday weekend for us; young Javi is turning 8 tomorrow, and his papa is a bit older than that today. What more could you ask for on your birthday than bright sun, a bucket of worms, and a lake?