When I was about this young boy’s age I regularly went fishing with my father in the Rondout Creek in Ulster County N.Y. where he was raised. During those outings we spoke little, but communicated a great deal. He taught me patience and the practice of meditation as it applied to repeated casts into the mesmerizing swirls, pools and eddies of the creek. He taught me that subtlety and finesse caught more fish than brute force and that the joy was in the journey, not the destination.
I never became a great fisherman, but the memories I caught on those excursions – hiking through the woods to the creek, baiting up, watching how Dad expertly cast his line and landed his fish, and walking home quietly through the fields as the setting summer sun cast a magical glow – these prizes I caught, and they are displayed forever on the mantel of my heart.
Good Morning Gloucester 
very sweet and nicely put!
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Great story Marty, and straight from the heart.
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I just noticed the border around your photo. It looks like a thin frame, to me anyway. Of course! If you’re displaying a memory on the mantel of the heart, it’s framed and there forever.
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…pure syrup, but I love it!
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That was so eloquently described. The memories we make with those we love are powerful. Kudos to your Dad for taking the time to share his passion with you.
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Your father taught you life’s most valuable lessons.
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would that be Saugerties NY?
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About 50 miles southwest of Saugerties in Port Benjamin, near Ellenville. The Rondout empties into the Hudson at Kingston, south of Saugerties.
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