wish for a fish

My boy is a sleeper. Doug and I always joke that we can tell already he will grow up to be a coffee drinker. He just has that coffee drinker's attitude toward mornings. Blah.

But something has him up and DRESSED at dawn each morning these days.

"I want to catch a fish big enough that it can be dinner for the whole family!" That's his goal. I don't have the heart to tell him that those big fish don't hang out at the end of the pier, and that the fish in marina waters are a little.. uh... yucky. All I can do is watch him go, every morning and every evening after dinner and smile.  He stays out until way past dark.

I ring the boat bell and signal him to come home. He regales me with stories about the big ones he caught and set free. I appropriately widen my eyes and ooooo and ahhhh.

And I think back to this little squirt and his first ever fishing trip with our pals Funny Scott and Lisa when he was exactly Naia's age.

Really, was he ever that small? So big fish of the Chesapeake, if you're reading this, please swim a little closer to our pier. He's getting up early just for you.