The waves are sliding
Like sheets on a bed.
Tuck on in,
Get on out.
Wake up. Drink your coffee.
Wake up. Play guitar.
Wake up. Eat your breakfast.
Wake up. Cast long and far.
I get 4 days off a month. Today is one of them. It can be a day of activity or nothing. Both have their benefits. I decided to wake up without an alarm, only rise when fully rested. I had coffee and breakfast at a leisurely pace. Then played guitar for a bit. An activity long overdue.
Now that I've got a surf rod, I figured I would walk 2 miles down the beach to the rock breakers where some bigger fish might lie. Gear rigged up and fanny pack tight on my waist, I set out.
If I were in Minnesota,
I'd call this a walleye chop.
On the Chesapeake,
These are Croaker curls,
Striper waves,
or Flounder tides.
I was off on a brisk pace. It was a gorgeous morning. The heat cooled off a bit. There was a little cloud cover. As I approached the area I was looking to fish, I came across a crab cage that had been dropped by a boat. The heavy waves brought it in and, by the look, it had been there for some time. There were close to twenty, exhausted blue crabs inside, over 2/3 of which were females carrying their eggs beneath their tails. No one else was around. The crabs were dying. A wasted catch.
Emotions mixed,
I clipped the wires.
Guiltily apologizing to the fisherman.
Why couldn't you just anchor your cage?
Why did I have to find this?
With satisfaction, I let the crabs go,
Trading their release for guilt
That shadowed me the rest of my day.
Upon reaching the spot....
I hooked up my bait, and made a few casts. Three in, I felt the shudder of a bite. Set the hook. And began to reel. This was a better fish. I was right, there are bigger ones here. With out warning, I felt the tension of the line release. Did my line break? I looked. No. No it is still there, weighed down in the water by my rig. I looked at my reel. What the heck? My bail was gone.
I buy a brand,
Though the cheapest deal,
Looking for reliability,
in my rod and reel.
But on it's third use,
A major malfunction.
Is this karma returning
On behalf of the crab fisherman?
*sigh* It is what it is. My fishing ended early. After reeling in by hand, my largest croaker yet, I started back. I walked past the empty crab cage wondering if I was too rash in my actions. Should I have left them there? They would have died. The boat would not drive up to shore to fetch an errant cage. At least, I hope not. For if they would, I feel even worse. My clipping isn't anything they can't fix, but still, maybe I should have left it alone.
I walked back, feeling sour. I wasn't sure how to receive this morning. Would I have been better off at work today? I suppose not.
Walking and reflecting,
Singing to myself,
I spotted a pod of dolphins
playing in the waves.
Jumping, playing,
Diving, and chuffing.
Laughing in turbulent waters,
They put on a show.
Up and down.
I sat and watched.
Some days are fulfilling,
And some are not.
 |
| If you look close, you can see a fin. |
All in all, the reel ended up being an easy fix. I had another broken reel, that willingly donated a few parts. It has been a busy morning. Full of activities. Some brought me up, some brought me down. Tides move the same way. There is no up, without a down. And I must remind myself, a bad day on the water, is still better than most days off.
Lunch and a nap sounds like a good activity for the afternoon. Yeah. I think that will be good. Up with the tides. Up with the sheets. Up with the corners of my mouth.
UPdate....
 |
And things go up... Peanut Butter, Honey and Cinnamon on Vanilla Ice Cream.
Heck yes I did. |
