Robin's Reports

CANCELLED, FINISHED, DONE.......2008
by Robin

It seems as though it is not our week to go fishing. Trust me, it was not from the lack of want and willing on my part. Sometimes God blocks things that we really want.

Our Monday trip was cancelled because our fishing partner & friends' daughter suffered 3rd degree burns on her leg from a dirt bike fall- accident. We couldn't fish together since she had to be at a Burn Unit for medical care. We stayed home. It turns out that is was a beautiful fishing day and we had stayed home to clean the back porch. Wednesday looked like the next opportunity to fish.

I did my best to prepare almost all day yesterday since I didn't have to homeschool the boys. I added a gallon of oil, washed the suburban (had to do that regardless), sorted fishing gear & loaded it on the boat, replaced rusty hooks and added new, sharp ones on the poles, shopped for fishing food, including pringles, doughnuts and beef jerky and made 6 hoagies. Oh, I made blocks of ice with old jugs and had them ready in our new deep freeze and bought what bait I could find available. I cleaned off the camera and charged the batteries in hopes of taking photos for the blog and for our own memories. We were in prayer for safety. Our eldest prayed for a keeper snapper and I selfishly prayed for my first mutton snapper. I'm sure Jack prayed for catching a limit of Red Snapper. We all went to bed early with hopes of fish filling the cooler.

BUT, the wind would not cooperate. The front arrived here quicker than predicted originally. Seas have gone from 2.6 ft to almost 4 ft with a short period between waves. It's a washing machine out there this moment and expected to rise to 6 ft waves by nighttime. It is a blessing that Jack had the wisdom to call off the trip. None of want to risk injury and safety for a fish.

We have learned to cut our losses while eating ham & cheese (or tomato & lettuce for me) subs for lunch. The boys even made their own breakfast of white powdered doughnuts while Jack and I slept in a little. Later, Jack decided to pull some overtime at work and I crept back into bed to watch fishing videos with chihuahuas on my side. Yep, it is one of those lazy days, which is perfect for ending a year and anticipating marathon tv watching until we hit 2009. I might even go finish reading my book.

We will ring in the new year with chiming glasses full of sparkling cidar & cheese from a can on crackers, as we hope for better fishing days ahead. There is always Monday, right? We fishermen live by the forecast. Right? LOL

May God bless you and yours in the New Year. Remember, the best peace comes from God.
Robin