Hello on Thursday Morning

Dear Friends,



My ice fishing adventure began when I left the house a little before 7 AM. The temperature was okay as I headed to the bait shop. I arrived there just as the wife of the owner opened the place at 7 AM. When I left the bait shop, I decided to drive by the high school where I spent most of my teaching career. My car almost automatically turned right into the school driveway. I mentally caught myself, and waved at the school buses, and parents dropping their children off to school.

I drove to my old home town, and the pond that I decided to try my luck at. The auger, which had rested in my storage shed since last winter, worked like a dream. I cut my five holes, and put in the tip-ups. Well, good thing that I brought a book with me. Good thing that I ice-fished at a place such where I could sit in my car. The tip-ups were in from 8 AM until almost 3 PM. I never got what they a call a flag. The fish weren’t biting where I and a bunch of other people were fishing. It was so cold and windy, that my old Lee Goombas weren’t there fishing.

Well, there is a diversity of people now ice fishing. I saw two groups, or they could have been two sets of relatives, ice-fishing. They were Hispanic. In all my years of ice-fishing, I have never seen people who have come from ethnic backgrounds from places south of the border. I also very seldom see people of color engaged in such winter activities.



The question is: “Did Linda have a great time being home alone, and without me there to bug her?” Well, not exactly! She woke up around her normal wake up time at 8 AM. She noticed that there was no local newspaper sitting on the couch in the family room. She had to put on her boots, and winter coat, and go out to retrieve the newspaper which was located at the bottom of the driveway. This was the first irritation of the day which she had, and I wasn’t even there to cause it. If the newspaper was delivered before I left, I would have brought the paper into the house.

She did have several hours of relaxation before she decided to do a little puttering around the house. Well the puttering around the house exhausted her, and she didn’t get a chance to relax until late afternoon. This was about the time that I came home. Her relaxation came to an abrupt halt!



The temperature while ice fishing didn’t get up to what I thought it would. The wind was blowing for the whole time that I was ice-fishing, and the blowing snow covered up my holes all day long. The temperature never got higher than 19 degrees. The wind chill was in the single digits. The book, and my lunch, and beverages help me to make it through the day.

It is 23 degrees right now with the forecast of the temperatures rising. I am going back to the pond again in a little while. I have enough bait left over so that I can go directly to the Lake. I am going to give Laurel Lake one more try before I go back to my favorite Lakes in Pittsfield.



The pot roast dinner in the crock pot was wonderful. I will be having the leftovers when I return from my ice-fishing adventure for supper this evening. Linda has her monthly book club / dinner meeting. She gave up a Red Hat dinner which happened to be scheduled on the same night.



I tried watching the Boston Celtics. The fresh air that I received while ice-fishing tired me out. I didn’t even last until half time. I tried to watch a little of the game in bed. Again, I fell asleep and woke up with the roar of the crowd to find out that the Celtics won the game in overtime.



I missed whatever news or politics happen to occur during the day on Monday, and it looks like that it is going to happen again today. Maybe my friend who does watch or listen to news is correct. If you are happy in your own little world, is that enough to make you content? Well, this is not how I could function every day of the week. I like to see and hear about all the not so nice stuff going on locally and in the world in general. You would think that we would learn from all the craziness which takes place each day, but that doesn’t seem to happen.



I have been in communication with Linda’s godson from New Hampshire. It looks like an ice-fishing adventure on Saturday is going to happen. The temperature will be some of the coldest of the winter. I might be watching the tip ups from the comfort of his home which overlooks the pond. The temperatures are supposed to be no higher than the mid teens. Ouch!



Am I getting too old for this particular winter activity? Maybe I should go back to skiing, and be with the beautiful people in bar at the ski lodge after taking a couple of runs.



Well, I have to pack my lunch, and put on my cold weather clothes, and head out the door. I might even have time for a second cup of coffee.



Have a great Thursday.

Maybe today is the day that I will catch the big fish. If not, I will finish reading my book.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad