"Just Keep Swimming"

If you have ever seen the animated movie "Finding Nemo," then this statement makes complete sense

Dory, one of the lead "fish" (narrated by Ellen Degeneres) strives to conquer the ocean with Marlin, the father of Nemo, who has been snatched by divers for an ultimate new life with a dentist's little niece, Darva! Despite her oddities, forgetfulness, and slight A.D.D., she manages to "just keep swimming" and leads Marlin to a reunion with his son.

Determination. Fortitude. Goals. Striving to reach new heights and accomplish new life dreams. During a very low time in my life a few years ago, my friends started calling me Dory. They called me Dory because they saw that despite the odds, I just kept swimming.

In life, do we really have any other choice? If you don't keep swimming, you are not moving forward. And if you don't move your fins and propel yourself forward, you stay still and cease to make progress.

Did you see a boat?

Surrogate Mommy Fishies

Something is fishy with scientists (or at least science) these days. Just when we thought the days of embryonic research were enough, it appears that some lab dwellers are engineering the offspring of certain species of fish.

This is actually a very interesting theory - because as fisher people, we all know that certain species are approaching declining numbers (i.e., stripers and certain types of tuna). Can you imagine the idea of "no limits" with regard to reeling 'em in?

In a recent article on NPR, John Nielsen states, "a team of scientists used the technique to inject cells from an endangered species of salmon into trout. If all goes well, the trout should produce salmon."

All I have to say is that if this is successful, we will never be justified in the excuse that they just were not biting....and "we have no bonito" at the Sushi restaurant? No more. And just when you thought that Chilean Sea Bass was $22.00/lb. Try the price of cod.

This story is prime territory for puns - scaling back the research, a "hook, line, and sinker" of an idea. I won't bore you. But I will tell you that this idea should have hatched at the advent of the human embryonic era. I guess they were incubating the idea...slackers!

What's in a Name?

I have to laugh. Yesterday, I was on the phone with one of my dearest friends in the entire world. Now a principal in Pasadena, CA, she still manages to see right through me. Amazing how your friends know you so well!

At any rate, she has a male friend whose last name is Trout. Now we went to college with a woman named Allison Trout. We sang together and I never felt the inclination to laugh at her name.

This gentleman's name is Lake Trout (how fishy is that)? Even more so - get this - you better go pee before you read this, now. His father's name is Brook Trout! Talk about 'swimming upstream' with the nomenclature! Couldn't their parents have 'cast' a little farther into the baby name list? I'm waiting with 'baited' breath for the name of his daughter....Rainbow Trout.

Now with a last name like mine, many ideas come to mind. Norman Bates. Kathy Bates. Master Bates. Bates a Hook. Whatever. But with a last name like Trout and first names like Brook and Lake, I don't feel so bad. When my principal pal told me this story, I swear, I just about pee-ed in my pants. I could NOT stop laughing. I haven't laughed like that in a long time - the belly laugh... The laugh that makes your gut hurt...

I'm thinking of other names. Brown Trout. Golden Trout. Gila Trout. Sea Trout. Something's fishy with this one!

Patience...

Everyone should fish. I make this statement not only because fishing is fun, but it is an activity that is indicative of how life really is every day for everyone.

Every day when you wake up, you are casting a line. You wait patiently for a bite and continue to create action, cast, and reel until something bites the bait you throw out there. If everyone learned how to fish, perhaps the world would be a more patient place.

Patience...is a virtue.

"Patience...the ability to wait for something without excessive frustration is a valuable character trait. The proverb has been traced back to 'Piers Plowman' (1377) by William Langland and is similar to the Latin, Maxima enim..patientia virtus (Patience is the greatest virtue) and the French, Patience est une grand vertu. (Patience is a great value.)"

Patience. You need it to fish. In some instances, it should be a requirement to live. I believe that it is through patience that the greatest rewards are achieved.

Carpet Fishing

I had to share this DILBERT (thanks, Michele)!

Activities for the Soul: Fishing and Golf

I've always known that I can rely on a day of fishing or a good round of golf to rejuvenate my soul. I return, once again, to one of the activities that has calmed me since I was a child: fishing.

Waking early. Gathering bait or lures. Thinking of what the day will bring. Having a spot in my mind before I go to sleep the night before and driving to that spot. Getting there. Seeing the sunrise. No one else is there. Peaceful. Casting the first cast. Listening to the sound of the lure as it hits the water. Feeling the smoothness of the well-oiled shimano reel. Watching the ripple in the water as I draw the lure back to me. And cycle again.

Until wham! A bass strikes and I'm able to reel her in slowly, watching her jump on the line. A prize 3 lb female - clearly pregnant. I remove the hook slowly and gently place her back into the water, creating the motion of a fish moving back and forth until she realizes where she is...and swims off assertively.

At this moment, I am grateful that I have a way to find my way. I am grateful to my father (and mother) for teaching me how to fish. And for my brothers who fished with me. And my cousin who never stops adventuring, in search of bigger, better fish.

Fishing will always be part of my soul - part of what makes me who I am - the patience, love of nature, and contentment I find in time alone. Fishing, in its cast and wait rhythm, gives me the opportunity to reflect on what I want in my life and to dream of making that come true for no one but me.

Fish Tales

OK, so you've heard it all. When someone goes fishing, they come back with these grandiose stories of what they caught, how big the fish were, etc. ad nauseum. And of course, when they ask for proof (i.e., a picture), well, their hands were just too gooey with fish goop to wreck the $1200.00 Canon EOS.

My cousin Christoper and my father have been known to tell fish stories. I can remember when, as a child, my grandmother would always wait for us to return from our fishing ventures to hear stories of what we caught. Since her mobility was often limited (particularly in her later years), she reveled in the opportunity to hear our stories and to sort of live vicariously through us.

Throughout the years, summers in Maine progressed from dock side mackerel fishing to catching mackerel and using them (whole) for bait for stripers. In Crit's boat. With Dad. And Mom. Sometimes, we ventured up the St. Georges River to go plunking. I am convinced that this is a term my father invented. Truly, there is no other word to describe this feat. You cast as far as you can with this lure that resembles a broken (or wounded) fish into the rocks. With the surf crashing on the rocks, this tasty lure would look like a shoe-in for a quick bite to eat for any trolling striper.

My father - Bunk - likes to plunk! I love it.

Fish stories are truly fun to tell - especially on the days when you don't catch a damn thing. Like the time we took Dad on a tuna charter at 3:00am out of Noank for his 60th birthday. Caught two small Tuna, Katie was sea sick the whole time, and then coming in, one of the twin 275s dies. We had to create fishing stories to survive that day.