NEED TO RELAX? TRY FISHING

On Bill's way to and from work, he always crosses the Rappahanock River. The shad are running right now. The heron, osprey, and humans are out fishing in hordes. Of course, as every true fisherman knows, it is past time to join the fun!!

Thursday evening we went fishing. The man beside us was reeling in a fish about every five minutes. It took me that long just to get my pole ready to cast. You have to understand, putting a worm on a hook is not my idea of how to spend my day in the park. By the time Bill got our poles baited, and our lines untangled from the bushes, he had very little time to fish. I decided to fish with a lure so that that baiting the hook with worms was no longer a problem. I managed to catch an eel, and about a four-inch sun fish--both returned to the water. Bill caught about four fish that he returned to the water as well. Maria caught two fish that were worth saving. We thought we would probably have them for breakfast the next morning.

When Maria was carrying the tackle box back to the van, it spilled, not being latched correctly. I helped her return the contents to the box. I did not realize until later that one of lures (this one had six little hooks attached to it) had snagged the hem of my dress. The harder I tried to get it out, the more entangled it became. I was feeling rather sick by this time, since I have a crises in the dress department already, and this was my best in-between going away dress. Bill tried valiantly to help me out of this pickle. The pliers he was using didn't work. In fact, it got stuck on the lure. Great!! Now I could walk around the rest of the evening with a lure and a pliers hanging from my hem. He finally pried lose the pliers, unbent the hooks, and released me from my prickles. What a guy!!

You may wonder--how did the fish taste? That is something we never know. Unfortunately, when we got home and were unpacking our gear, we discovered that we had the left the cooler with the fish in them on the dock back at the river.

What a relaxing way to spend and evening!! We really did have fun, in spite of everything. And we had some really good laughs. I am wondering, however, if this may not be one of the times that Bill secretly wishes that there would be at least one other male in the household to kind of help him through some of these trying times.

We have to go again. Somehow, I need to redeem the money I spent on my fishing license.