No fishing, Mama goes live, a good dunking

I thought it was strange that as the day drew on that the Pastor did not contact me about fishing. It was a dreary day yesterday. Windy with patches of rain followed by times of bright sun. It may not have been the best day to go fishing, but it was not much worse than a couple other times we went out. About 3 pm I texted the Pastor. No response. Then I called. No answer. So, when I got off work, I fed for Mama and got some things together so I could at least retrieve the juglines I had set out. I had located the juglines on my lunch hour, and was fairly certain that three of the six I put our were empty, but I did not want to leave them out in case there was a fish on them and it died solely because of my carelessness.

I fed for Mama because at 4 pm – when I got off – she was going live on Facebook for the first time ever. She had spent the day dreading the moment. She wrote out a script for the occasion. She debated not doing it at all. But finally, she resolved to go through with it. Showered, did her makeup, dressed to the nines – earrings and all – and got set up to be seen online. She chose a spot at the dining room table with the coffee bar in the background. We could not find a good way for station her phone to have her hands free for the presentation. Nothing came to mind, so she had to hold her phone throughout the short presentation. About ten people joined her live stream. The whole idea behind the live stream was to draw a winner for the contest Mama had put on and to get word out about her business. It worked well. Now she has a bunch of new contacts and her first online party is now on the books. Mama is getting comfortable with the online portions of her business. She is not proficient yet, but that is sure to come.

Back to my excursion to the lake. There was so much wind when I was headed out, that I abandoned any thought of using the boat. Since I do not have a battery to use for the trolling motor, I would have had to use the small oars I inherited with the inflatable boats. That did not seem feasible. So, I took one fishing rod and climbed down the steep bank on the west side of the lake to get near the water where one of the juglines was resting. I was able to draw it in but just as I got the line in my hands the rock I was keeling on collapsed from under me and I tumbled into the lake. It was a very short fall into relatively shallow water. I had my life jacket on incase that very thing happened. So, I was in no danger at all. But I was soaked through instantly.

It took some energy to scramble up the steep bank. Once at the top, I sat down and drained the water out of my gum boots. There was one more jugline I thought I had access to so I sloshed over to that line and tried to retrieve it, but it must be caught on a branch or rock because it would not budge. Using the pole and hook I had with me, I snagged the jug several times without budging it. When I finally hooked it firmly enough to give it a really good tub, the line on my pole broke. I had to leave that one as well. I will get the pastor’s help retrieving the lines the next time we go out. At this point I am fairly certain I did not catch anything. However, there is still one jugline that was taken by something large enough to pull it underwater. That jug has not resurfaced.

Getting home was problematic because I did not want to completely soak the seat of the truck. I used a cold bag to keep me off the seat as I drove the truck back to the house. Even still, the driver’s seat got pretty wet on the sides. Hopefully, it will dry out before Mama needs to drive it. Victoria’s car is still with Roger, so the truck is our only transportation at the moment since Victoria is using the Sequoia to get too and from work. It will all work out eventually.

By the way, the Pastor called me about 6 pm. He had forgotten completely about fishing and had been tasked with getting a large bale of hay to his son’s home. About a 90-minute drive from here. We have not scheduled a new date to get back out on the lake…but I am sure we will soon.