Today we woke up super relaxed and decided, why not take advantage of the beautiful weather (and no winds) and go fishing! ...but first we make coffee!! And if coffee doesn't wake you - the cool morning air on the water will!
I'm (Tammy) very grateful to have this man with me today and have him walking - with both legs! As some of you know, Chris caught on fire back in February - but that's a whole other blog post... for another day!
Today, the weather is perfect. Our campsite is completely shaded - we sit beneath a canopy of tree, actually pretty beautiful!... and again, another blessing in disguise. Given Chris' situation, his wounds can't be exposed to sunlight or UV for too long. ...and so yes he's wearing under armor under his shorts which are UV protectant and helps keep his wounds covered & protected. Again, I digress...
As we started off our morning adventures, we found a small spot that had data... and for those of you who know Fairbank Provincial Park, you know you're coming here to chill and catch up on social media - the data coverage is next to nil. So I decided to post this photo of Chris and I on the boat.
Hahaha, the comments were as I'd expected: "Geez Chris at least pretend like you're having fun and smile a little?!" was the consensus. Well little did everyone know, Chris actually wasn't having such a great morning - things didn't seem to be working out as he'd expected, but he was still holding strong and kept us fishing. Today was my first fishing adventure out on the water this year.
All I kept reminding him was, "I'm enjoying this. And, we have all summer...!"
Fishing is truly an art. You have to be "in the mood" otherwise, just like you would with a painting, writing a story, singing a song - if you're not feeling it you won't be satisfied and nothing will ever be "right".
When you're fishing, expect nothing but some good old R&R, and no not Rock & Roll, but some Rest & Relaxation.
Once you start actually chillin' and just be - then there's no need to try to hold a conversation, no need to keep checking your every move, no need to keep moving around... you just chill.
Allow the views to capture your imagination. Invite the breeze to cleanse your surroundings and hopefully keep most of the bugs at bay! And embrace the sunshine and convert it into some vitamin D!
Did we catch anything during our morning - till mid-afternoon fishing adventure, no. Well, actually Chris did catch a small bass, but given that he's strictly a Walleye-guy there ain't no way he's keeping anything but!
We were on the water just a little after 9:15am, like I said we had a slow start to our morning - and weren't in any rush! However given we didn't bring anything with us but water to drink, by 4pm our bellies were pretty empty - well at least mine was!! So we decided to head back to freshen up and grab a bite to eat!
Once we arrived at the boat launch, an older gentleman was arriving at the same time we were - funny thing was he launched this morning at the same time too! Given that Chris has a knack of chatting things up with random older fellas, this particular situation didn't phase me.
Within minutes they were standing there exchanging fishing stories and showing-off photos... meanwhile, I'm sitting on the dock - holding the boat!
And so doing what I do, I grabbed a few photos cause sometimes my brain needs a reminder of how beautiful moments actually are/were. Instead of being frustrated and getting impatient - I've learned to embrace these small moments, take time to look around me and just breath it all in - and what might have seemed like an eternity before, now feels like a very brief moment.
And so we head on back to our campsite and enjoyed a wonderful dinner! I gotta remember to take more food photos!! My brother-in-law told us he made a whole chicken on the Blackstone griddle... and so challenge accepted - we did one too, and it turned out amazing!! I would have never thought we'd be able to cook a whole chicken on a grill - but believe me, it can be done!
Like I said, I'll remember (or at least try to) to take more camp-food photos!
So now it's almost 7pm and we've decided to come out again - but this time there's this big grey cloud and we're not sure if it's coming or going ... so we decided to still give it a-go and, just wing it.
This particular photo is the "after comments" from this morning's photo! lol
We're both SMILING!!
Bye bye grey clouds and hello beautiful evening skies and ...here I am catching some sunshine!
And here's Chris with the beauty sunset at his back.
Tonight was a beauty evening for fishing! There were boats out everywhere - one particular unit with two handsome young fellows... got caught encroaching into our fishing area! (wink wink) [We found Braeden and Nolan.]
Again, no walleye but I did get a nice Bass show! It came up, splashed while I reeled it in, and just as it approached the boat, it jumped out again and - basically spit my lure back at me and elegantly swam away! Such as show-off!!
As the moon present itself to us, we decided it's probably time to head on back!
Until next time, Fairbank... Goodnight!
