Two weeks ago, as John and I took the long walk back up the mountain out of the run, lamenting the three miles to one fish ratio of the day, John said something that struck me as profound: “I just like knowing they are here.”

For John, that day he had caught a brookie in a stream he had not known had trout in it, and for a guy who has been fishing these mountains for over three decades – this was worth the walk.

As I sit here on Easter morning, watching the morning unfold as the sunshine slowly makes its way over the hilltop and into the valley, it seams like an appropriate time to reflect.

I guess I would consider this the midpoint in my life, or at least that is what my Uncle Canny always told me, promising I would live as many years as he did. God gave him 91.

In the midst of living life I realize that life has been unfolding steadily all around me, that the days that lay behind may out-number the days that lay ahead. That those whom have filled my life have paths and end dates of their own. And perhaps most importantly, the way I’ve lived to this point does not have to be the way I live henceforth.

So when my son and his friend asked me where we were fishing on Saturday, I gave a long pause. After being out of town for five days for work and the robins finally showing up as official arbiters of spring, I had a choice – mulch the flowerbeds, unbury my desk, fix the shed, haul some gravel….or go fishing.

We went fishing.

With each deep run, plunge-pool, foam pocket, and line-tug…the list of things that needed done faded in my mind and all my focus was on what was around the next bend. The type of day where you look at your watch and grimace because you know it is ending too quickly.

Red Letter Days, my Uncle called them. A day where every minute was a joy, when everything comes together perfectly…the kind of day you’d be happy to call your last because you lived it well.

As such days unfold, you do well to realize what is happening, to recognize that this is a special day, to understand that many things have come together in a harmony that is rare.

A life well-lived is a life that strings together as many days like this as possible. The lists can wait. The moments can not.

Reflecting on the day, on this morning, on this life – a beautiful realization came to me….I just like knowing we were there, experiencing life in the fullest, enjoying each other’s company, blessed by what God has given us, and knowing the minutes were well-spent.