Fishing vs. Catching

I have just returned from Texas where I spent a couple of days with my father and brother-in-law Sam. We were in a little town up in East Texas called Carthage. A few miles away is a boat launch into the Sabine River along the Texas - Louisiana border. Dad and I went there last year when the white bass were running up river to spawn and we caught 70 in two days. We decided to go this year when the fish are running again and we took Sam with us.

When we got to the river, we found the water conditions were quite different than they were last year. There had been a lot of rain and the level of the river was higher, and it was very muddy. We had much fun on our fishing trip, but it was just that... fishing. Last year was catching and this year was fishing. Two fish. Sam caught the first and biggest of the two, and Dad caught the other one. The only fish yours truly got was a fish dinner back in Carthage in a restaurant that used to be a Golden Corral.

I was happy though that Sam caught one of the two. I had my turn last year, and will catch fish again someday. I hope Sam will go back with us. In spite of not catching fish like we did last year, we had fun. Fishing really is almost as much fun as catching.

So now I'm back in my home and filing away some of the memories for future reference. I have a couple more stories from this trip to add to my collection. It's fun for me to see new things (or to see old things in a new way), to have new experiences, to go to new places and to have these things at my disposal when I need to use them to illustrate a point or break some ice or just have something to add to a conversation. That excites me. That adds juice to my life. And there are many more things left to do while I'm here.

That being said, I have been disappointed by the number of fish caught... and I have felt on occasion cheated by love... but I have never been sorry for getting a good night's sleep.

So until next time...
Good night.