12/30/2025
Wishing everyone a healthy and Happy New Year!
Long read, sorry my attention span is short too.
This photo was from my favorite fishing outing in 2025. On board were my dear friends Steve Berg and his wife Julie who are coping with and fighting ALS together.
Why my favorite? It was an invaluable lesson about perspective and patience.
Zero pay, no tip, a challenging task of a wheelchair on a boat in with waves and a 7 mile run.
Not a captain’s ideal day.
A cheap 9volt electric reel, on a rod Steve could hardly hold let alone set the hook.
Took awhile for us to figure it out, thankfully the fish were biting.
After missing the first dozen fish and some falling off boatside, we just had to be patient and let the bait sit.
After about the 5-6th bite I would say now, and Steve smiling would push the button on the electric reel without a hookset.
We caught plenty with many smiles and laughs, Steve even had a double that October day.
Patience,
It’s hard to wait that long, when you’re used to setting hooks a split second after the fish inhales your bait. Steve was used to fishing on his own boat, as an ugly but perfectly capable man just a few short years ago.
Then ALS happens.
Things change, normal stuff is harder.
Life is not always fair.
I pray we can fish together again.
Perspective,
We will all die, but this as***le doesn’t quit! Ever see the frog choking the snake, Steve is that frog. He has a smile on his face constantly. He is still hunting and working. He will probably fill a deer tag after the New Year with me. I installed a device that pulls the trigger on his crossbow, he bites a mouth piece to pull the trigger and release the arrow.
I also have a heavy heart for a close childhood friend on life support after cancer surgery and for my father who missed the Holiday season because he is stuck in a rehab bed with a broken femur.
They could use a few prayers.
Enjoying and the enjoyment of the outdoors doesn’t have to change, just our capabilities do as we age or get ill.
The smell of the wet fall leaves, the breeze through the trees, and the anticipation of the hunt can be the same if you walk in 2 miles or limp 50’ off the road to deer hunt.
Don’t quit fishing because you can’t handle the boat or do things as you used to. Be content in enjoying God’s creation in whatever way he allows you until the end. When fishing from shore or in a boat, the smell of water, casting a rod, the sunrise and the wind in your face will all be the same. Enjoy it.
Where there is a will there is a way and when you quit trying you start dying.
God wants you to enjoy life, so turn your frown upside down a be that frog.
Thank him for the blessings and challenges he gives you in 2026.
God Bless you all!
A sincere thank you from Joanne and myself to all guests who stayed in the Inn or shared my boat in 2025!
Couldn’t do it without you!
Books for 2026 are open, hope to see you soon!
