Hi Tim,

You talking about your fishing exploits with your Dad reminded me of times when I was a kid:  my Dad would take all three of us kids out to Crab Orchard Lake (in southern IL) where he taught us to bait our own hooks and fish with bamboo poles.

I remember the first fish I caught - it was a sunfish, or at least that's what we called them - and I thought I had a shark on the line!  Turns out the fish was only as big as my Dad's palm!  I sure was proud though; like all good scouts we threw all our catches back.

Since then I've caught salmon, snook and redfish and nowadays I go out to catch the sun and read a book LOL

Which is how I'm going to spend the summer - in the sun, on the beach, sleeping or reading a book.  I hope everyone enjoys their summer plans!

 

Thanks Lorraine!

You sound like you know how to enjoy your summer break!

This is really what I was intending for this post.
We all have those special memories, some more distant, but certainly your story sparked more memories of my own.

I grew up in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Canada, and for our very first camping trips as a very young family of two boys, two girls, Mom and Dad (my youngest sister was still a baby which made me 6 or 7)
Driving there (I believe it was the 56 Chev at the time) Dad got a flat in the pouring rain, and got help from a passing RCMP who lit flares for safety.
At the lake he managed to get the tent up in the rain, and all of us inside..where my sisters both proceeded to throw up...
After a cleanup, and a chilly night's sleep, my brother two years younger and I pulled our clothes on while still snug in our sleeping bags and carefully exited the tent (partly so not to touch the canvas and also not to wake the girls)

That first step was a boy's dream. 15 frogs jumped away. Next step, 30 frogs.
We felt as if we had died and gone to Heaven!
A mist over a dead calm lake, and a promise of a clear blue sky and a good day's fishing (our first that I can remember)
Carlysle Lake was the place..and my Dad had gone there too as a boy with his Mom, Dad, and sisters.

We had an old repaired wooden boat, and a very old outboard motor with the gas tank on the top. Out we chugged with the baitbox full of earthworms from home..and us two boys chattering away..preparing to tangle our lines..lol

The water was crystal clear to the bottom..filled with pure spring waters. Below the boat, yellow perch in untold numbers darted here and there.
We filled the wire fish trap with perch that morning, and it's a memory that will stay with me forever.
Sadly they ruined that beautiful lake one day a few years later with seismic testing (using explosives in those days), the explosion causing a collapse of the spring that fed the lake and diverting most of the water to Kenosee lakes, and our beautiful Carlysle shrank every year until it wasn't much more than a pond anymore.
We found another lake to call our vacation home, and made many more memories.

Thanks Mom & Dad for those memories. Your hard work made them all possible!

 

Hi Tim,

I will most definitely be visiting all my family that I have not been able to be around for a while.

When I am at college most times I feel so locked away. Thankfully school is pretty much over for now and I can rejuvinate for next school year.

I am happy for the summer time! Everything here seems to be so much more beautiful. lol

Hi Orin,

Yes..summer is also my time to rejuvenate and get things done around the house and yard.
The winter months up here in Canada can seem awfully long and harsh. I'm the last person you'll ever hear complaining about the heat here ;-)
We simply don't get enough!
Thanks for dropping by and joining in!

T