New life. Just saying it aloud sounds encouraging, ringing with hope, full of endless possibilities. New life is coming to our Family. Sometime before the leaves that have yet to bud begin changing to shades of yellow, red, and orange, I will be blessed with another fishing buddy.

I can honestly say that my two daughters, the oldest of the siblings, have done something that very few people, let alone kids, have ever done. This past summer they each caught their first fish, two beautiful wild rainbow trout, on a 5’ 4wt. bamboo rod that their Daddy made just for them. The joy on their faces was only equaled by the joy in “the old man’s” heart. These little princesses standing up to their waists, bare legged, in a cold Smoky Mountain stream. Let me tell ya, Dollywood has nothing on the Adventure based theme park that God created with his own hands.

To teach our kids that the joy, excitement, and wonder of creation is far more thrilling than anything man can contrive is so important. To see the wonder and amazement on the face of a kid as they are engulfed in the magnificence of the world. So much of life now is electronic, sterile, emotionless fodder. And now, with Gods Grace and Blessing, I will be given yet another opportunity to instill in the future generations of my own lineage the love of the world as it is unhindered by man. To know that my children love God, and love the bounty of His creativity and power, is an accomplishment that is paramount to seeing myself as a successful parent.

New Year’s resolutions have always seemed so odd to me. Usually what you are resolving to change should have been done long ago and do not require a first of the year start off date to employ, yet year after year, millions will say that they are going to do something…yet few will actually accomplish their goals. Why? Quite frankly, they didn’t want to do it in the first place even though they know that it needs to be done. My Father smoked for thirty years or more before finally laying them down. How many times did he try and fail? The bottom line was not the failure, it was that he kept trying until he reached the point where his desire to lay them down and his ability to enact that change were on the same page.

Sure, there are tons of things I would like to change in 2008, but instead of resolutions, I like to set goals to have completed by years end. So…here are my goals for 2008.

1) To fish a new river.
2) To fish for Largemouth Bass with a fly rod.
3) To get closer to my goal of building my own boo rod.
4) To loose enough weight to feel good about how I look again.
5) To start on a new novel.

Ambiguous goals no doubt, but all are achievable if I don’t set a static time table, just write them down and keep them in mind as I fumble my way through the year.

Here’s to 2008. May your resolutions become goals, and your goals become reality.

Marc