Friday, April 13, 2007

Mom/Daughter Fishing Day

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Jessica is now on maternity leave from her job. If I didn't, I meant to mention it.

Anyway, Jessica felt pretty good Thursday and asked me if I wanted to go fishing with her yesterday afternoon. That's kind of like asking Paula Deen if she'd like a stick of deep-fried butter, y'all. It took me about 15 minutes to get ready. A little slow for me, but I'll work on bettering my time.

Our first stop was Lake Hogue, just outside of Weiner, Arkansas. If any of you or
your guys duck hunt, you may have heard of Weiner. We were looking for fish yesterday, but we did see some ducks and geese as well.

Also, Weiner is where Jason works and we didn't want to get too far from home or help just in case Jessica developed any problems with her or the baby.


This was the view straight out in front of me.
There were several boats on the lake.

If you click on the picture to enlarge,
you can see several dead trees
and snags in the water, left over from
when they flooded some swampy woods

to create the lake. They make for some
good fishing, but there are lots of snags

and hangups so it's easy to lose your
hook and sinker. Which I did on the
first cast with one rod and reel,
and promptly had to re-rig it.
I was fishing for catfish mostly, using
live worms for bait. The lake is full
of catfish, crappie, bream (or "brim"
as we pronounce it) perch, bass
and many other varieties of fish.

Jessica was using artificial baits
and lures because she doesn't like
using live worms or bait.

Bless her heart, she didn't catch
a thing yesterday. I caught one
little brim at Lake Hogue, but the
fish
weren't biting much.
You can tell by Jessica's fleece
pullover that it was a bit chilly.
We were on a small fishing deck or pier
over the water, and this was the view
to my right...
And to my left...And this is another stunning
self-portrait. Ain't it fierce?
Ain't it intense? LOL!
That's Jessica's car behind me.
One reason we fish here is so
that I don't have to walk far
with my bad knees.

Jessica wasn't catching anything so
she was ready to go try it somewhere

else, and we moved about 10 miles
or so to Lake Poinsett.
On the way there, Jessica drank

her water like a good mama-to-be.
She has to cut down on her salt and
sodium and soda's are one of her

weaknesses, so it's a sacrifice for
her to drink water instead.At Lake Poinsett we tried our luck
with much the same results.

I like the shading of greens and
blues in this picture. Notice how
the trees are almost fully leafed out.
The only things I caught at Lake Poinsett
were another small brim and a turtle.

I caught this red-eared slider and
I was beginning to wonder if I

was ever going to get the poor
thing unhooked. She kept clamping
down on the hook, but I finally
got the hook out of her mouth
and had Jessica take a picture

before I put her back in the lake.Somebody who lives in a house right on
the lake has a large menagerie of various
animals, including lots of different birds.

I was just sitting there, enjoying the
different bird calls and noises. I grew
up with chickens, geese, turkeys,
guineas, ducks and more and I

was enjoying the memories
hearing the birds had triggered.
Suddenly, a male peacock squawked
and Jessica almost had a runaway!

She screamed and hollered,
"What in the world is making
that awful noise?!"
I laughed till I almost wet
my drawers before I could finally

compose myself and tell her what
was making the racket.
The whole time we were there
fishing she complained about how

annoying the birds were, and I
finally told her that her non-stop
complaining was a lot more annoying
than the ducks, chickens, geese,

turkeys and peacocks.
All in fun, of course. :-)

About 30 minutes before we left,
we had a visitor. I don't know if

he belonged at a house near where
we were fishing or if he was supposed
to be waiting in the back of a truck
for his owners to come back, or really

just where he came from, but
a huge rottweiler appeared, seemingly
from out of nowhere. I just looked

up and there he was.Fortunately he was friendly, because
he was huge! He probably weighed
150 lbs. easily, maybe even more.
He had some really nice, big,

pointy white teeth, too. Thank
goodness I saw them because
he was grinning at us and not
because he was baring them
to growl at us!
I have no idea what his name was
because he had no collar or ID,
but we tried out various names
and he answered to Jo Jo. I guess
it was close to his real name, or
maybe he just decided he liked
the sound of it.
Jessica fell instantly in love with him
and wanted to take him home with her,
but you could tell that dog was somebody's
baby. He was well cared for and well
behaved, very friendly and polite.
When we got in the car to leave,
Jessica had the back door open loading
some of her stuff. She snapped
her fingers and he immediately
jumped in the back seat and settled
down, ready to ride. It was obvious
he'd done that before.

I had to make her get him out of the car.
I told her he belonged to
somebody and he'd find his way
home, that it wasn't right to
assume he was lost and needed
a home. Besides, she lives in a small
apartment, and it wouldn't be fair
to take a big active dog to her
little home. Not to mention
that her two cats surely wouldn't
be appreciative of a new roomie of
his size and species.

All in all, we had an enjoyable day.
When Emmy gets here we won't be
able to do these kinds of spur of
the moment things. We'll have to
worry about diaper bags and all the
assorted paraphernalia you have to
haul along with a baby. It won't be
nearly as easy to just pick up and
go when the baby arrives.

I don't think Jessica and Jason really
understand how much their lives
are going to change when they
become parents. And I don't think
all the telling and advice in the world
will prepare them for it. It's one of
those things you have to learn from
experience. But I think they're up
for the challenge. We'll see in a
few weeks, won't we?

Hope y'all enjoyed the pictures and
the little peek into our day.

Take care, everybody.

Love and blessings,

21 comments:

mombo said...

How I love your sweet spirit and unflaggingly positive attitude! It's so good to hear how precious your relationships with family are. I have got to meet you in person! PLUS, you're always faithful to comment when I finally get around to posting. I'm sure you can tell I've been buried as of late. I read every day, but comment rarely, and post almost never. There just aren't enough minutes in the day! God bless you sister!

someone else said...

What a beautiful location and awesome day! I've always thought fishing looked so peaceful, but I'm such a girl. I have this issue with worms and would need to have someone bait the hook for me and put it in the water so I didn't have to see the worm. Probably why I never took up fishing.

I love your post today. What a lovely relationship you have.

Big Mama said...

I love how you and Jessica take time to do stuff together like this and you're right, it's going to get a lot harder once y'all have to lug the carrier and the diaper bag with you.

She has a huge adventure ahead of her, doesn't she? She's blessed to have her mama by her side.

Myrna said...

How peaceful! Im not a fishing person--is that fisherwoman? When I hear others talk about it I think it sounds peaceful and refreshing, but I'm probably not patient enough--gotta be moving! I think you should take Emmy right along with you--How cool that would be--three generations of women on a day at the lake!

Barb said...

I for one thoroughly enjoyed this, Diane. You two are so lucky that you can just pick up and head for the lake and have a day like this.

JoJo (?) is beautiful. But you're right - what a disaster had she tried to take him home. I can't imagine. That dog needs his OWN apartment, he's so big.

Yep. There's no way you can tell them how different life is going to be when Emmy gets here. No way. But like most young couples, they'll just adapt.

I'm beyond excited for all of you. And thank you for sharing this day and these beautiful photos with all of us out here who couldn't go with you two. :-)

Sister said...

Diane,
Reading your post reminded me that I dreamed about (friendly) rottweilers last night. I kid you not. Whassup with that?

Tammy said...

I loved this post...made me chuckle several times!
And now...I'm hungry for some fried catfish and hushpuppies...sigh!

momteacherfriend said...

I have told you before, those are the moments we live for. How awesome you took the time to remember it in detail so you can look back years from now and have another good laugh.

Carole Burant said...

You are so right...once Jess has the baby, such mother/daughter outings will be fewer and far between....glad you could get away together now for the day:-) Sounds like a fabulous time...I so love reading your posts, makes me feel like I'm right there with you experiencing it all!! xoxo

Cheryl said...

I've done very little fishing in my life, but I remember my roommate and I many years ago spending a weekend on the lake without makeup and just enjoying running trot lines and line fishing in the evenings. It was great. Thanks for the relaxing visual of your day...blessings

Anonymous said...

Hope Jessica enjoys her last bit of time before Emmy is born

They look like a lovely places

Pleased you both had an enjoyable day.

Lyndy said...

Oh what a lovely day it looks like you two had. Thanks for sharing it with us. Since I am a mamma's girl myself, I know how special those times are.

Enjoy your weekend and thanks again for all your prayers.

Love and Hugs, Lyndy

Dick said...

It sounds like you two had a great day and the weather was pretty even if it was a bit on the cool side. Pat's SIL & family have 2 Rotwilers about that size. Tank weighs 160-something and the little guy, George, is only in the 140s. But they are both very friendly. They also have 3 cats (1 is a 55lb African cat, 2 Poodles that are much smaller than Tank & George and a couple of horses. And then there are the Koi (spelling?) fish and probably some others I don't know about yet. See why they needed to sell their little 5-acre place & move to a new house on 23 acres?

Girl Raised in the South said...

This post completely reminded me of the posts I used to read, when I started blogging a year ago, and you'd post all your photos of your trips. Except of course you didnt have one very pregnant daughter back then. Hard to believe her pregnancy has gone so fast! She'll be a mommy before you know it. And youre absolutely right - nothing you can say would prepare them - they just have to find out the hard way just like the rest of us did. xoxox

Judith said...

I'm so glad you took time being together. Like family photos, you never know what or when may be lasting kodak moments.

I haven't been fishing in a long, long time. Sure could go for fried catfish and hush pupplies.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

Hi Diane, it's nice to meet you and I only joined the other site for the sole purpose of leaving Early Bird comments too. My main blogsite is here and please feel free to stop in and visit sometime.

The trees are really out where you live...we still have tiny little buds that are shriveling up and dead because of a recent freeze. Everything has to start over again.

I enjoyed going along on your fishing trip with your daughter and soon to be granddaughter. I'm like Jessica, I like artificial bait because I like to fish mainly for bass. I've never caught a pretty little green turtle like that one but I've caught those ugle aligator snapping turtles and you can't hold those things in your hand...they're not very gentle and they sure are ugly.

I'm off to read some more of your blog entries.

Rachel said...

What a lovely place to fish!! It looks so peaceful and tranquil. Your trees are much fuller than ours!!

I'm glad you were able to get the turtle unhooked and back in.

Love the dog!! I'm glad he was friendly too!! Great picture of you as well!!

Linda said...

What a wonderful mother-daughter day Diane. The pictures are beautiful. I like to fish too. I really don't even mind if I don't catch anything; I just love being by the water and the stillness and beauty of it all.
That is one sweet dog. I don't blame Jessica, but I'm sure you're right. He surely belongs to someone who cares very much for him.
Have a wonderful weekend.

Susie said...

Glad you're having this wonderful mother daughter time doing something you both so obviously enjoy!
Life will change when the baby arrives, but in a good and positive way.
xoxo

Dawn said...

What beautiful pictures and such a serene spot! I'd like to just sit there with my book and my thoughts. Not so much for fishing. But it's just beautiful.

I'm glad you two got to do this at least once more before the car seat, stroller, bags, diapers, etc. etc. etc. fill up the car! What an adventure she has ahead. I hope she's sleeping now!

Linds said...

What a wonderful day you had! The photos are incredibly serene and beautiful, so who cares if you didn't catch much! These will be really precious memories when things get very busy soon!