I can tell the sun is already lower in the sky. I know this because it is usually not as obtrusive as it was this morning at 6:27. I’m talking direct beam right into my eyeball bright. I’m sorry to be that guy, but we’re closer to the end of summer than most of us want to believe. And although I am in a much warmer climate than many of my friends in the upper Midwest, that does not mean winters are a cakewalk for us Southerners. We get snow. Sure, not as much, but we get it. And we get quite a bit of rain in the winter, too. Rain so viciously cold, it makes the inside of your bones ache.
I am not trying to bring people down by mentioning this, but rather, trying to encourage you to get out on the water while there’s still time. Fortunately, it has been a quiet hurricane season for us; almost no mention of a tropical storm. You know what everyone’s been talking about, which is why I’m not even going to mention it.
So whether you like to find the panfish, or you enjoy getting after them biggins largemouth, do your kids and yourself a favor and get out of the house. It pains me just to think that there are other anglers out there staying home. Letting this stupid thing scare people into hunkering down or just not thinking the weird steps needed just to travel to the lake are worth it.
We have a place on a beautiful lake up near Blue Ridge. The challenge is mustering up enough tolerance of the crazy to want to travel the over 6-hour trek required to get there. But we know we cannot stay home. We owe it to ourselves to go. So, we got in the car last weekend, sadly for only the third time this summer, and headed up to the lake. The only rules were that there would be no unnecessary cleaning or maintenance or electronics. Obviously the kiddos tried to get us to reevaluate our decision on the second rule. We did, and two seconds later, reaffirmed our pronouncement. We were going up there to be with each other, fishing, swimming, playing games, fishing and fishing. We had never gone up there with such strict rules about what we could not do, but was it ever the right decision?! Nobody wanted to come home. Usually, at least one of the kids is ready to get back to their friends and/or electronics (I don’t even know if the two terms are separable any more).
Moral of the story is simple: Let this stupid pandemic be your family’s excuse to have to spend more time together. It doesn’t matter if you have a lake home or not. Go outside and be with each other. Soon enough, this will all be over and we will be back to the chaos that is “normal” life.
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