This sunset will be forever etched in my mind because behind me, as I’m shooting this photograph, is my son Joshua building a bonfire, my 11 year-old granddaughter Savannah eagerly waiting to make s’mores, and my wife waiting to hear Josh sing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah while accompanying himself on the guitar.

To add to the magic of the moment, strong precious memories of my grandmother spring forth as I gaze upon the sun setting over Michigan’s Torch Lake.

You see, as a child,  I spent untold hours trolling upon Michigan’s countless lakes with my grandmother eagerly looking to hook a big pike, with my grandfather patiently guiding us around and around the lake with the putt-putt of the Mercury outboard engine in the background.

The illusive monster pike never seemed to appear while I was aboard.  However, when all else failed, there was always a trusted bed of weeds that would yield us a nice batch of bass, bluegills, perch, rock bass, and sunfish.   Then, it was back to the shore where my grandfather and I would clean the fish, while grandma readied the frying pan.  Hmmm.  How I love her pan-fried fish.

I’ll never forget my grandmother telling me the story of landing a dog fish.  Evidently, a dog fish is an undesirable in the world of lake fish. And, my grandmother forever burned an image in my mind when she shared of landing one of these repulsive creatures which she straightaway ushered death with a miniature baseball bat.

Somehow the image of my prim-and-proper Dutch grandmother beating the stuffing out of a dogfish, out in the middle of the lake, ushers up one of those haunting childhood images that you would rather leave in the forgotten recesses of your mind.

Anyway, back to the present…

I now have a new precious memory to recall the next time I gaze upon a colorful sunset over a beautiful lake.  Forever etched in my mind will be the smell of the campfire, the laughter of my granddaughter, and the tears on my wife’s face as she listened to Josh’s tender rendition of Cohen’s Hallelujah…

I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Thanks God.  I appreciate beautiful times like this.

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