March 15 – “A Tale of Peace”

With a house full of cousins yesterday, we had to make a trip to the water.  Moms vetoed the beach though, so we grabbed some bait and headed to the Jamaica Beach canal for some fishing.  Little did we know at the time, however, that fishing would be the least of our exploits.

Oh, we did get some lines in the water.  And we did get plenty of bites.  Fed a lot of piggies and even lost a few that seemed to be bigguns.  We landed a few croaker and one rat red and Josh even reeled in a sting ray.  And in one of the most poignant scenes of the day, Josh took one of his small croakers and tossed it to a waiting sea bird … a Great Blue Heron, in fact.  Why is that such a monumental event?  Well, many years ago, when Josh was but a lad, we were fishing off the bulkhead behind Uncle Jerry’s house in Spanish Grant.  It was getting close to dusk.  All was calm.  Very relaxing.  All of a sudden we heard a rushing sound as of a great winged beast soaring through the air.  Puzzled, we searched the skies.  And suddenly, there it was.  A Great Blue Heron.  He was a regular evening visitor to the bulkhead, but this time something was different and he was confused.  He made for his usual perch on one of the pilings.  But alas.  This was no piling.  This was … young Josh.  The poor startled bird fully extended his wings in a frantic effort to stop his descent.  And that made him appear even more larger than life.  About that time a second sound split the skies.  It was the blood-curdling scream of the young boy, now certain that he was destined to become food for the gigantic creature’s young.  Dragon food, for that’s surely what this being was.  He dropped his pole.  He ran for the nearest object to place something between him and this horrifying raptor.  That nearest object?  Me.  He climbed and clawed his way, attaching himself to my body with a death grip, no doubt certain that the beast would have a difficult time dragging away both of us.  Sigh.  The poor beast was more frightened that Josh, however.  It skidded to a stop and as soon as air currents allowed, changed directions and soared away from there.  And since that time, among the Great Blue Heron population, the legend has grown about the narrow escape from the Piling that Came to Life.  Ah … horrifying tale that one. 

So, as you can now no doubt see, the simple offering of a tiny croaker to a solitary, hungry, great blue heron was in actuality an olive branch of peace between the mighty Living Pilings and the noble great blue herons.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, history was made in our presence.  Remember this day.

Psalms 94:19 says, “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.”

Father, thank you for our interrupted fishing trip.  It was fun on so many levels.  Amen.