What the heck just happened?

Here at the Register we are already talking about future events we are going to cover, and it is things like proms and graduations. We are talking about May coming and that is the month we work on our Best of Summer magazine which comes out each year on June 1 and is full of info about events that will happen all summer in Faribault County.

School Board meetings are having discussions and updates about end of the school year events and projects. City Councils are discussing summer construction projects.

People are eagerly discussing their summer vacation plans. Wasn’t it just winter a few days ago?

I mean, whoa. Didn’t 2025 just get started? Didn’t we just have Christmas a little while ago? And now it is already Easter? Wasn’t it just the start of the school year and we are already talking about the end of the school year?

I mean, time is just flying by. I just got used to writing 2025 instead of 2024 and 2025 is fast approaching the halfway mark.

Remember when we were kids and the school year lasted FOREVER? I wonder if kids today still feel that way.

Now that we are old, time just flies by, summers especially. Maybe not so much a nasty cold and snowy winter.

Just about everyone I talk to seems to feel the same way. The years just seem shorter.

People say that it seems like they just had little children and now those “kids” are grown up and having children of their own. And, in my case, those grandchildren are grown up and having kids of their own.

It is true. Take some time to enjoy your children because before you know it, they will be grown up and out the door.

As you get older, the years do indeed just whiz by.

There are ways to slow time down. Like do something boring.

But a better way is to spend a few days just doing something really interesting – and doing it slowly so that it fills a day.

For me that is camping. And that includes hiking through woods or kayaking around a lake.

Especially when we used to make trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area up by Ely. It is a magical place where time can actually stand still. No phones, TV, news, or a fast pace. I always felt “civilization” pouring out of me the first two days and the next five were just all about survival in the million acres of woods, lakes and rocks. They don’t call it a wilderness for nothing.

Trips to the Boundary Waters included fishing, and for many folks, fishing is a way to slow life down.

For years we camped along a branch of the Whitewater River in southeast Minnesota, and I would do some trout fishing. Sometimes it was walking along the river and using a fly rod. Sometimes it was with a regular rod and reel. I preferred that kind of fishing to getting in a boat and roaring around a lake.

Although I must admit, going deep sea fishing in Florida and Mexico is a pretty fun time.

So, while I like fishing, it is not a big passion of mine. However, somehow it has become a bit of a passion for my two sons, who do a lot of fishing, one in South Dakota and one in California.

That is why it was pretty interesting to listen to an 11-year-old talk about fishing. And not just talk about it, but talk about being passionate about it.

Gareden Lore loves fishing. And it is pretty obvious he has done a lot of it and wants to do a whole lot more.

He also obviously knows a lot about fishing and about fish. He has caught 103 different kinds of fish and knows about a whole other species that he has not caught…yet.

I am not sure I would consider walking around a frozen lake for 12 hours, fishing and catching 100 fish, an awesome day, but Gareden sure does. He has gone fishing in a lot of places in his young life and wants to go to a whole lot more.

For me, fishing has always been a way to slow down a bit and take it easy and relax and take a break from the real world.

But, for Gareden, it is all about the catching of the fish. And maybe a 12-hour day is not long enough.

So, I hope all of you find that thing that you are passionate about and get a chance to do a lot of during what is left of this year.

Before it suddenly is December 31 and we are starting 2026.

Where do the years go? And why do they go by so fast?