June 9 – “Fish fry”

The fishing trip yesterday was inordinately successful.  We caught a two buckets full of whiting, and Cary even landed a pretty big speckled trout.  And that's not to mention the ones that got away, of course.  Those were so big that … never mind.  The fun part of fishing in the Gulf with someone who has never done it before is watching them when they actually do catch something.  The guy next to us had a distinctive whistle that he let out when he caught something.  I guess he wanted us to know, since no one else was close enough to hear him.  And he caught at least two big ones.  Cameron usually let out a very loud "Fish on" declaration.  Corbin stayed quiet with his catches, though.  I think that was because he didn't want anyone to see him slowly easing his way over to where I was.  Once near enough it was easy to say, "I think I need some help with this one."  Perfectly polite person, that boy.  I was the only one with a pair of needle nose pliers, though, so I dutifully pulled out the hook and helped him get the catch into the fish well.  It really didn't bother me, though.  All I could see was supper.   The waves were extremely rough.  Definitely not the ideal environment for a relaxing day of fishing.  We had to get out far enough to avoid the really strong crashing whitecaps.  But that meant being in water deep enough that the swells and still there but less often whitecaps that did come were over the head of this short guy.  That meant I had to jump and dodge and spit out salt water constantly.  Made for quite the workout.  It was most definitely worth it, though.  Can you say "Fish Fry"?    There's just something special about eating what you have just caught yourself.  Maybe it's a guy thing.  You know, provider for the family and all that.  We didn't even fry up all we caught, but we had more than enough to feed the four of their family (which included two big old college age boys) and the three of us.  We had some leftovers.  Not twelve baskets full, but a few fish sandwiches full for sure.    Acts 14:15-17 says, "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."   Father, thank you for providing our supper last night in abundance.  And thanks for our friendship with the Winkle family.  Watch over them.  Amen.