I got up early this morning, riding around as the fog still hung in pockets close to the ground in the little hollows.

The sun was just beginning to peer between the trees, trying to decide if it wanted to come on out or just go back to bed.

I really like to go places early in the morning when the air is still cool and damp. It really invigorates the body to breathe early morning air.

Another reason it is better is because the air seems cooler and more fresh, partly because all of the people have yet to arise and start up their cars. However, this morning there were no other cars in sight for the most part. Here and there I saw a few people going out to pick up their morning paper, some still dressed in a bath robe or a long gown with a hair net and rollers.

As I rode along, more people started appearing on the road and alongside it. I could see the pace start to increase as everyone got their dose of Columbian gold; time to start doing the things still unfinished from yesterday. Most of the people probably never get finished in the race they'll never win.

That sounds a bit like a sad thought, but it isn't really. It is rather ironic that folks spend so much of their time rushing around to do things that they forget the real reasons for working, or living for that matter.

Anyhow, I got to my destination faster than I thought I would and called up a friend of mine who lives near there. When I stopped by his house, I noticed a new addition to his home (it looked like a sun room) and that he had recently purchased a really big bass boat.

After his wife brought us out a couple glasses of cold ice tea, we started talking about old times. After a little bit, he offered to show me his latest acquisition. It was a Ranger with a depth finder, fish finder, GPS (global positioning satellite) and built in live wells and cooler. It had those fancy swivel seats, little windshield and a really big engine in the back and a trolling motor in the front. It really was a sight to behold. He showed it to me proudly, unrolling the cover and pointing out little options that were on it, like how it will float even if you cut a piece of it off, how powerful the engine is and how long the trolling motor will run without a recharge. "With this baby, you can practically just go out and let the fish jump into the boat with you," he joked.

He didn't tell me what he paid for it and I didn't ask. I could tell it cost a bundle.

"I could handle that," I replied. "So when are you going to take me fishing on some big lake and show me how it works," I asked him, my eyes partially glazed with the thoughts of taking it to the fish with high-tech gadgetry.

"I don't have time this week," he said matter-of-factly. "I just got a promotion at work and I am putting in a lot of extra hours. You know how it goes. So when are you going to move down here where the money is?"

"Oh, I don't know," I said. "I'm not doing too bad where I'm at.

Besides, the river's too low for a boat like that anyhow.

"Well maybe I can head back down here later in the year and we'll take a trip out on the lake or something," I noted, knowing that it would most likely not happen in the near future.

"That sounds great. Well, as bad as I hate to, I have a big presentation tomorrow and I really need to get working on it now. I'll see you later." I watched him walk back into the house, his mind probably already on that proposal thing he was supposed to do.

As I walked down his driveway by the gleaming, blue and gold sparkled boat, I thought about how silly purchasing a boat that cost several thousand dollars and leaving it eternally in the front of your house must seem to him now. Then again, maybe he doesn't even realize how silly it is.

This man goes to work and works long and hard to have the things he wants. But he doesn't ever have time to appreciate anything. I've seen him a few times in the past four years and he is always busy. At first I thought it might just be me that he didn't want to be around, but I have also talked to other mutual friends who have come to a similar conclusion.

We all have lots and lots of stuff to work with and play with, cars to drive and people around us that we care about, but still we go off in search of even more stuff to pile up in our basements, closets and even in front of the house. Then we find ourselves mired in debt and forced to work even harder to pay for those and other luxuries. In other words, people are so busy chasing the dream that they never experience it. There has to be a line somewhere that can be drawn where a body says, "This house is big enough. I have all the things I am ever going to need, and some I'm not. I am going to start enjoying life now."

But, sadly, it never happens. An older fellow told me something that really comes to mind at times like this. "Son, nobody ever lays on their death bed and says, ‘I wish I'd made another dollar or two,' or ‘I wish I had put in just a few more hours of overtime.' What people usually regret at the end," said this man, already old enough to have lived a full life for most folks, "is not spending more time enjoying themselves, more time with the people they love and more time helping others."

That kind of makes sense to me. It's enough to make a body want to go fishing in a 10-year-old canoe with a chipped and faded finish. Come to think of it, I haven't had it out all month, what with the water being so low. I think I'll take it out this weekend. Maybe I'll buy new paddles. But, then again, maybe I'll ‘enjoy' the old wore out ones just once more.

Get more tongue in cheek commentary this week's issue of the Alleghany News!

Email: allnews@ls.net