Loons Catch Fish

Large Mouth Bass

6:12

6:22

It's 6:55, Car Talk is just ending, and I have been up for an hour, watching the sunrise, listening to the happy nest building of the purple martins along the various Woodlawn martin houses, eight of them so far.  It's a welcoming morning sound, like distant loud, wailing laugh of the loon, unlike the honk of the Canadian geese.  Today will be another unseasonably warm spring day, highs in the 80's, with thunderstorms later in the day.

Because our days seem to blend into one another, I often have difficulty remembering what we did the day before.  Yesterday only one thing really stood out, my catching of a large mouth bass the first time I walked on the dock to cast my line.  It was like a miracle, confirming there is a god or something that rights all life's wrongs, like my endless and goalless quest to catch a fish.  Finally, my hours of casting were rewarded.

So that was the highlight, now back to the mundane, my day beginning with my last yoga class for awhile.  And I am just getting to be a mini master of sitting comfortably cross legged, with loose hamstrings, and correct posture.  When I got home, our plumber was here again, as we continue to have trouble with the installation of a whole house filter.  It seems to clog quickly, shutting off our water but when we bypass the filter, all is well.  Why did we ever put in a filter?  We have been drinking the water for over thirty years we no side effects.  So, they are going to check our well next week and see if raising the pump a foot might solve the problem of sand clogging the filter.  I will keep you posted on our daily well problem.  I have a feeling we will end up going back to a filter-less house.

After Marcus left, we had lunch, then spent much of the afternoon outside, despite the heat and humidity.  It felt like mid summer, with the temperatures in the 80's, so what does Evie, the lawn lady do?  Cut the lawn.  So, I powered up the mower, making sure it was working, and Evie took a good part of the afternoon, cutting both our yard and our neighbors.  She was a happy girl, cutting the lawn for the first time since last October.  The result, that wonderful spring smell of cut grass.  Around 4:00, we both went out to enjoy the afternoon sun on our dock which is when I caught my large mouth bass.  After that excitement, we settled down, with a beer and pretzels, luxuriating in the warm sun. And Evie was able to get some amazing photographs of loons, as they were not bothered by our sitting on the dock,

Another Loon Catches A Fish

Loons A Courting

A Regal Male Loon

Around 5:30, we decided it was too nice of an afternoon to waste on the dock, so we decided to go kayaking, this time with a beer to keep us company, and a camera.  We took a leisurely paddle past our neighbors crowded purple martin houses, our goal, to pick up out of the water a lime green rubber buoy, with the eighteen dollar price tag still on it.  Not sure where it came from, so I assume it will now be ours until claimed.

Early Evening Kayaking

My Bass

After kayaking, we came in and showered because we wanted to go to the Rod and Gun Club for a fish fry.  We didn't get there until late, about 7:30 so we thought the crowd would have dissipated. Wrong.  The bar was packed, as was the dining room, so we had about a half hour wait.  It was fun to sit at the bar again (it's been a couple of months) and while we were enjoying our third beer of the afternoon, I got a phone call from my sister Ellen, all excited because her daughter, Julia, had just gotten engaged.  Now we can plan on attending a fun wedding.  We finally sat down around 8:00, ordered our fish fries and literally three minutes later, two great meals appeared on our table. Obviously, they just fire them out of the kitchen on Friday nights.

We got home around 9:30, watched some Bill Maher before going up to bed around 10:30, tired but happy from an interesting and full day.