In loving memory of my beloved Dad, Howard Houston on his brithday, November 22nd.

A boy and his dad on a fishing trip-

There is a glorious fellowship!

Father and son and the open sky,

And the white clouds lazily drifting by,

And the laughing stream as it runs along

With the clicking reel like a martial song,

And the father teaching the youngster gay

How to land a fish in the sportsman’s way.

I fancy I hear them talking there

In an open boat, and speech is fair;

And the boy is learning the ways of men

From the finest man in his youthful ken.

Kings, to youngster, cannot compare

With the gentle father who’s with him there.

And the greatest mind of the human race

Not for one minute could take his place.

Which is happier, man or boy?

The soul of the father is steeped in joy,

For he’s finding out, to his heart’s delight,

That his son is fit for the future fight.

He is learning the glorious depths of him,

And the thoughts he thinks and his every whim,

And he shall discover, when night comes on,

How close he has grown to his little son.

A boy and his dad on a fishing trip-

Oh, I envy them, as I see them there

Under the sky in the open air,

For out of the old, old long–ago

Come the summer days that I used to know,

When I learned life’s truths from my father’s lips

As I shared the joy of his fishing–trips

Happy Birthday Dad.