Sometimes....I like to dream. I may pretend to be the wind or imagine I can be anything I want. One day, I may dream of being a seagull like the great Livingston. Another day, I may find myself dreaming of being a squirrel, like Rocky, as I rummage through the collection of articles stashed away for future use.

Yesterday, I wished to be a fish. A fish? I'm a fisherman for God sake. Why would I wish to be a fish?

Once, while fishing Cook Inlet in Alaska, I heard a very peculiar statement. "He thinks like a fish you know..." the Captain's girlfriend explained. "He really does!" she exclaimed again, looking at me with a broad smile and reassuring me that he would put us on fish. The memory is burned in my mind like a branding that won't wash off.

We had been stalking large Halibut that day, but the ledge we were fishing was infested with sea lice. As the captain looked out over the water, I noticed he had a nervous twitch. It really wasn't a twitch, it was more of a movement. As he pondered the water, his mouth would open and close. It would quickly open and slowly close. The motion kept repeating itself as his thoughts wandered deeper into the underwater world.

I looked at him and thought "My, that looks familiar." Again, his mouth opened quickly and slowly closed, opened and closed, opened and closed. I thought "I've got it! He looks like a fish!" As he pondered his next move, he became engrossed with figuring out where the fish would be. The more engrossed he became, the more the action persisted.

We moved positions shortly there after, and we were on fish. Not the large Halibut we had originally set out for, but the adequate 20-30 pounders that were available that day. I have always remembered that captain for his ability to consider the current dilemma, regroup, and put us on fish. And, I have always remembered that captain for his uncanny resemblance to a fish. A fish opening and closing its mouth.

Could it be? Could it just possibly be that the Captain had been a fish in his previous life? Hey, wait I second! I was raised as a good Catholic boy. Reincarnation? I don't know?!!!

I do know one thing. That Captain put us on fish. And maybe...just maybe...he did so because he thought like a fish. And what better way to think like a fish than to be one?

I wish to be a fish!

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