Spring fever sets in early

"I don't want to go to school this morning" my son, Jeremy, announced Wednesday. "Let's go fishing."

"I have to go to work this afternoon," I told him. "And I don't like ice fishing."

"Well the ice probably isn't that thick any more," he reasoned.

"I like fishing under the ice even less," I told him.

He's getting a little antsy about getting out on the lakes. Since he only has until the end of May before he leaves for boot camp, I guess he's wanting to get it all into the next three months.

He's taken the engine off the boat and is trying to refurbish it in his engine repair class in school. He's gone through the boat to see what kind of poles we have and what needs to be replaced. He's checked out the tackle box and has already started making a list of the tackle he's going to need to get the big one.

I feel for him. Fishing is one of his passions, and I doubt they'll be doing much of it in boot camp.

I noticed in the paper that the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will soon be stocking Barnett Park with 1,000 trout, and if I know Jeremy, he'll be hitting the ponds on March 17th and won't stop until he's caught them all.

After school, Wednesday afternoon, Jer came into where I was working with a certain glow about him. I knew he'd been up to something.

"What ya been doing?" I asked him.

"You ought to see the boat," he said, gloating. "It shines."

"What did you do to it," I asked.

"I picked up some wax and buffed it," he explained. "You know that black stuff that was on the front of it? It's gone now."

Personally, I thought the black stuff gave it character.

Let's face it, the boat's about the same age I am. If I have to learn to live with wrinkles, surely our 44-year-old boat can make do with a little black stuff on the front of it.

Surprisingly, I kept my mouth shut and didn't tell him what I was thinking.

I am a little concerned though. Last time Jer and I went out in the boat together, the engine wouldn't run and when it did, we ended up killing it on a sandbar. The whole engine problem is solved, since its not even on the boat, but if Jeremy decides he wants to take it out fishing, I'm wondering which of the two of us will be the one breaking the ice as we go.

I only wish he would take as much interest in waxing and buffing my living room floor as he has in getting the boat back to pristine condition.