Fishing

Today was the first 80 degree day of the year here in the Twin Cities, so we decided to blow off our afternoon obligations and go fishing. I'm not going to lie. I'm no expert at fishing. I used to go frequently with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, but I'm pretty sure I took the Isabella approach to fishing and sat there reeling in my hook (Look Mommy, I caught a worm!) and eating cookies for hours on end. In fact my only childhood memory of catching a fish was in Alaska with my Aunt Wendy and Uncle Roger. The fish was big and green and spiky and I was utterly impressed with myself, but for some reason or another it had to be thrown back. That put me off fishing for a while.

Two years ago we attempted ice fishing with the same aunt and uncle and I "got the skunk out of the boat" as Roger said and caught a small sunfish. Of course Cheyenne, who was three at the time, caught one first.

We stopped at Tally's for some bait before heading to the dock. For some reason Isabella has a fondness lately for colouring her nose black. I don't know why. Just ignore it.

It was not a novel idea, but fishing seems like a great way to meet friends. The kid with the backpack rode up on his bike and started chatting with Zach about various kinds of bait and what he's seen work out here lately. He borrowed some red squid looking thing and spent a little time fishing before heading home. By the time he left we were buddies.

Then there was Jacob and Suzanne, a mom and son team. Jacob is heading to Greece for the summer in a week to do some grad school research and he and his mom were getting in one last day of fishing before his departure. Cheyenne took an instant liking to them.

And their bucket of live minnows. You have to love a girl who can name her bait Anna and still skewer it on a fish hook without batting an eyelash.


Alas, it was a fruitless (or fishless) day, but a nice one. Good company, plenty of sunshine, cookies and minnows. It's what childhood was made for.