Well,
I know all you fans out there are waiting with bated breath for the fishing
report from yesterday. Sigh. Not so great.
I
should have known it was doomed when I forgot to bring a mask to the bait
shop. The guy let me in anyway. Guess he was trying to get rid of his fresh
dead bait, since there was no live shrimp available … anywhere. Strike two.
I pressed on, though. Upon
arriving at the beach I was encouraged.
The water was relatively calm, so there would be no fighting waves, at
least. However, once I waded out I
realized that it was really muddy. That
meant topwater fishing wouldn’t be very successful anyway. It also meant the most likely scenario would
involve either no bites at all or worse … catfish. Strike three.
Now,
there were two really great parts to the whole fishing experience. First, on my way to get the bait, I saw one
of those full moons that is close to the horizon. You know, the kind where it seems to be
absolutely huge. It was gorgeous to
behold. And then I got to the beach. Then I got to see the sun rising over the
Gulf of Mexico. Magnificent. I didn’t realize how much I missed the Easter
Sunrise Service until right then. I
guess you could consider it a plus that I at least caught a lot of fish. I’m pretty sure in fact that I hooked every
single mudcat that currently resides in the Gulf of Mexico. All sizes.
Even a few little gaftops. And
two of them managed to stab me in the finger and the arm. Evil creatures. Oh, I did catch one rat red that I dutifully
released, and one tiny whiting that I used as cut bait. I did catch something with that. A bigger catfish.
The
best part of my fish story today, however, involved the actions of … the
Not-So-Intelligent Tourist. After I had
been fishing for several hours, the tourist population began to awaken and
arrive to enjoy their day at the beach.
I heard a cry from a gentleman near me.
Not anything desperate or anything like that. He was just trying to get my attention. When I turned to face him he called out, “Is
this yours?” I checked my
surroundings. All seemed still attached,
so I replied, “What is it?” He reached
into the water next to him and grabbed something. Then he did a double-take, looking back at
the area that was of such interest to him.
He seemed to hasten his steps away from there and toward me as quickly
as he could. He held up a dead finger
mullet. “Will they still bite it if the
bait is dead?” he asked. I assured him they
would. He kept looking over his
shoulder. As he handed me the mullet he
explained, “There was an actual shark over there, just under the water. We are in their house now, aren’t we?”
Yup. And your fingers were just dangling over his
breakfast table. Smart move.
Colossians
3:1 says, “Since, then, you have been
raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated on
the right hand of God.”
Father,
thank you for the chance to see the moon and sun, all in their created glory,
and both in the same morning. Amen.
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