I didn’t realize that The Andy Griffith Show had impacted my subconscious so deeply until I woke up this morning and remembered dreaming about ol’ Andy Taylor sharing a story with Opie’s class after school:

“I do enjoy fishing. And most of you have heard stories about big fish. But I want to tell you about the smallest one. He’s a striped bass, and I named him ‘Ernest T.’ after an acquaintance of mine, because he is not only the smallest fish in all the lakes between Mayberry and Mount Pilot, he’s the orneriest. He dashes for the bait on the hook before all of the other fish. He has a real ambition to get caught, and I’ve obliged him about a dozen times. I’ve always thrown him back, though, until this morning. This morning I couldn’t deny him any longer. I caught him and kept him and cooked him and enjoyed him for breakfast. They wasn’t much of him, but that fish was delicious. I s’pose if they’s any moral to this story, I guess it’s that sometimes when you oblige other folks in their ambitions, it turns out better for you than it does for them. And, of course, you should choose your ambitions wisely.”

I don’t remember whether I dreamed in black-and-white.