This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt featuring three miners
fishing required some ingenuity and thinking outside the proverbial box. So I present one adult and two MINORS
fishing.
In June 1985 we took our first real FAMILY vacation to
Fairy Stone State Park in Stuart, Virginia.
The girls were ages 4 and 2. They
were at a good age for what a state park has to offer: a nice beach without threatening waves
safe trails for hiking
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| Outside the Visitor's Center Pulleys from the Iron Ore Mine We hiked the Iron Ore Mine Trail |
and miles of shoreline for fishing.
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| Jordan and her fish This is a picture of a picture that is in terrible shape due to being first glued onto a poster and then into a scrapbook. |
Jordan, the 4-year old, was eager to fish. Even at such a young age, she had the patience of a good angler. Not only did she develop a respectable cast, but she was smart about standing quietly waiting for a nibble. Patience paid off and she caught her first fish.
I don’t know which is more thrilling – that she caught the fish or that I caught the pride in her expression. (I’m usually slow getting the camera ready.)
Meanwhile Zoe, the 2-year old, was busy being 2. She just wanted to wind the reel. Barry would cast; she would wind. Cast. Wind. Cast.
Wind. No amount of explaining
that she needed to wait and give the fish a chance to see the bait would alter her rhythm. Cast. Wind.
Cast. Wind.
 |
| This is a picture of a picture that had been cropped "creatively" for a scrapbook. |
So in the midst of our celebration of Jordan’s victory, Zoe squealed, “Look. A fish!”
Talk about beginner’s luck. There was no skill at work here. It must have been just the unluckiest fish in
the lake to swim right into the hook.
Cast your line into the waters of Sepia Saturday. I’m hooked!
©
2014, Wendy Mathias. All rights
reserved.
Jordan's smile says it all!
ReplyDeleteAh, gorgeous girls, good family fun.
ReplyDeleteNot a glitzy vacation but it was lots of fun. We went there several years in a row.
DeleteSuccess at such a young age - where did I go wrong?
ReplyDeleteI think you made up for it, according to that picture on your blog. I bet it was a citation.
DeleteThe girls won 2 - 0 on that day! I hope they're still lucky!
ReplyDeleteWell, they have good looking and brilliant parents so I guess they're still lucky. HA. As for fishing, that might be another story.
DeleteI recently took up fly fishing - perhaps Zoe was in early training for that? I also love the rhythm of casting. No unlucky fish for me, though!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy watching fly fishing.
DeleteA wonderful fun story & great pictures! But the truly unluckiest fish anywhere was a huge trout in the Smith River in Northern Calif. It was a wily thing. Folks would hook it, but it always managed to get away. One day a local fisherman hooked the big trout & fought it for a couple of hours before it finally escaped with the guy's expensive triple hook still in its mouth. This fellow had tried to catch the elusive fish before but without any success and always losing his hooks to the thing.. I guess that day he'd simply just had it! That poor fish's uncanny luck had finally run out. The fellow went home, returned to the popular fishing hole, and shot the fish with his 22 rifle.
ReplyDeleteWow -- that sounds like the legendary fish in "On Golden Pond."
DeleteThe girls look so cute and happy with their little fish!
ReplyDeleteDidn't they though?
DeleteAwesome! Just like our family vacations when our kids were little....we went to a national park or two every summer. We also hit many state parks. AND, unfortunately I have a lot of those scrapbooked photos too :(
ReplyDeleteIt's the perfect type of vacation for kids.
DeleteLovely fishing photos of your girls, so sweet and proud of their catch.
ReplyDeleteThanks. They were excited, for sure.
DeleteWell, it's always a good idea for children to start learning where their food actually comes from :-) Good story.
ReplyDeleteThey had a little garden, but we didn't bring in any cows or pigs.
DeleteGreat capture of the thrill of the catch...did feel outgunned (out fished) when Zoe managed to catch one without patience? the luckiest child as well as the unluckiest fish.
ReplyDeleteThat's it -- she was as lucky as the fish was unlucky.
Deleteaww, the sweetest girls and the sweetest memories. They are still the luckiest girls.
ReplyDeleteYour minors are much cuter than the miners in the prompt!
ReplyDeleteThanks! HA HA
DeleteWell Wendy you pulled out another wonderful family filled post! This is really dear to me, it's always fun thinking back to those days, and seeing little ones, as they always know how to make things so happy, no matter what they do! Very fun times.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right. That was a happy day. I suppose it could still have been a happy day even if they didn't catch a fish, but I'm sure they assumed they would because they didn't know any different.
DeleteI really like Kathy's comment!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that was funny.
DeleteBeautiful story Wendy and well told. Loved the two MINORS. Had to read it several times before it sunk in - I'm a bit slow starting off on a Sunday morning :)
ReplyDeleteThat's ok. Often I feel like I'm just here entertaining myself, so if anyone catches my joke, it's a bonus.
DeleteBeginner’s Luck- wonderful. The fish were caught...... but you captured the expressions perfectly.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet hubby can go out fishing for hours and catch nothing. Where is the justice?
DeleteA metaphor for how to succeed in life. Be patient and wait? Or cast, wind, cast, wind? Apparently both will work.
ReplyDeleteThank-you for elevating this simple story to parable-level.
DeleteWhat a fun post! I bet your girls were so proud of themselves for catching those fish.
ReplyDeleteI think they were! Zoe has since reminded me that her biggest catch was the time she hooked Jordan in the head. I had forgotten that!
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