Fishing For Compliments

My sister and brother in law are fisherpeople from WAY back. They practically raised their kids on the boat.
Their kids have become fishermen and love every second out there in the water. That's why Rick became a Wildlife and Fisheries major and that's why it was such a horrible irony that he drowned doing what he loved.

Getting back out on that boat was probably the hardest thing they ever did, after Rick died.
I was fortunate enough to be invited on that trip a few weeks ago. I KNEW how fortunate I was because one of my other sisters said, "You know, they NEVER invite other family members." It was well known that for some reason, they invited friends but only twice did they invite my dad as he was getting older and they knew he wouldn't be with us long but never any other family members.

So, when they invited me a second time on Sunday, I jumped. This entire week, they will be fishing in the annual Tackle Time tournament so I was excited to be along for the ride.
It wasn't long after we anchored that someone shoved a rod and reel into my hand and made me fish too.
My father taught me how to bait a hook and cast a line when I was a little girl but that was more years ago than I'd like to admit.
I soon retaught myself how to cast the rod out and realized that there was a beautiful art to casting.
I loved how simply complicated it was to use my thumb to release the line but still hold it on the reel as I whip the rod sideways, over my shoulder, releasing the line just enough to sail the bait and hook across the water and down into the depths.
The fact that I didn't catch a DAMN thing wasn't beautiful but after realizing that I sat there for hours catching nothing, I decided to practice my casting until I was flawless.
I could have done that all day.

Posted by De at June 28, 2005 12:35 PM