Fishing 2018

It's off to a slow start, but we've had some decent days from a weather perspective this week for fishing. I went out three times this week. I only caught a total of 4 fish, but I'm calling it a good start. One small mouth, one walleye and two large mouth. Pics are below. The walleye and small mouth were caught on the Middle Raccoon river at Panora and Redfield respectively, The large mouth were caught at Aquabi Lake south of Indianola.

This is the dam on the Middle Raccoon at Panora, Iowa. It's located at Lennon Mill county park.

Small Mouth Bass caught on a Mepps Bucktail #3 spinner.

This is the dam on the Middle Raccoon at Redfield, Iowa. I had some company while I was fishing there.

 
These two garters seem to be making baby snakes.

The Walleye was also caught on a #3 Mepps Bucktail spinner.

This Large Mouth Bass and another like it was caught was at Aquabi State Park in the lake there. I was using small "Rapala like" lures of the suspending variety with a slow retrieval. The fish were a bit lethargic, but hungry.

I also caught a bit of a sunburn. I'm a tad pink. It's what happens to old, fat white men in the spring. I'm ready for more burn and more fish. Thanks Lord for a beautiful week.

Spring is Tardy

The calendar indicates that this is the first day of spring. The vernal equinox is upon us. However, the signs of spring are fewer in number than might be considered normal for this time of year. It's my considered opinion that the calendar needs an adjustment. It seems to me that in recent years, it has been warmer into fall and early winter, not really getting cold until January and February and then the cold trails off slowly right into April.

I have seen appropriate numbers of Robins returning and Sunday I saw red winged blackbirds searching the ditches for suitable nesting areas, but no bluebirds yet and strangely, no turkey vultures. Given the amount of carrion along the roadsides, it would be nice to have them here for clean up. Even so, there is much birdsong in the morning hours and this gives me hope for warmer days ahead. On Monday I was at Saylorville Reservoir and there were pelicans and cormorants in large numbers. Considering the temps, I'm surprised they did not head back south, but I guess it's the angle of the earth in space that drives them north along with the position of the sun in the sky.

We need some heat people. Right now, it's only 36 degrees. There will be damage to the perennials if this cold continues. Still, creation is trying. Some snowdrops have made through and the magnolia trees have some fat buds. Spring might yet happen.

Lord, please bring some heat to these old tired bones and bring life from death as is your normal pattern of behavior. We love You for this among many other things. Please stretch out your mighty hand and let spring flow from it. Invigorate your bass and walleye. Let the bluegill and crappie again flourish under the heat of the star you created for that purpose. It's time to stir things to life again.

I love your spring. Where is it? I want to lie down in green pastures and go fishing beside still morning waters. I wait for you to restore my soul, to walk with me with Your goodness and mercy not far behind. Please bring it.

Amen

The Serpent

Ya, it's been awhile, but I had a dream last night and it has been bothering me all day. Normally my dreams are vague recollections by the time I rise in the morning, but this one was different for two reasons. First, my deceased parents were in it and second, the dream was in two parts. I woke and went to the bathroom after part one and the dream continued when I went back to sleep. Odd no?

So here is what I remember of the dream. I was living in a place that was not where I am living now. It was more like my old apartment in Cedar Rapids. My parents were there standing in the entrance to the galley kitchen. I was standing by the door to the apartment entrance. My mother was having hysterics because there was a very large snake crawling around on the living room carpet. It would zip across the floor seeking cover under chairs and the couch and move back and forth in the hallway between the living room and the bed room. The creature looked very much like an albino boa constrictor, but I seemed to know in my mind that it was also venomous and therefore dangerous.

My father was smiling as if curious what I would do. He always did like to see me squirm in tense situations. He was hateful that way. My mom was screaming about how I had to move and we had to get out of there and really, the place was just too dangerous.

Then I woke up. I had to pee...it's an old age thing.

I thought about the dream after I crawled back into bed wondering what it had all meant as I went back to sleep and there I was again. I was back in my old apartment, but this time my parents were gone and I was alone with this snake, this huge venomous snake. Most would have left the apartment immediately and called the exterminator, but this was a dream and my rationality had been left on the pillow.

Instead, I began to devise a plan to capture and kill this serpent. I was jumping from chair to chair to couch as I thought about it. I kept trying to sneak up on it, but as I would get close, it would turn and open it's mouth bearing its fangs. I came close to getting bit twice and then...I woke up.

That snake better not be there again tonight. Just sayin....

Pax Korea

Apparently the two guys got thrown out of the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Seoul.

I'm not surprised. They are both hot heads and at least one of them is crazy.

FYI....they were impersonators. They should make a casual stroll through Washington DC though, just to turn some heads.

Making Progress

Things are up and running at the condo. I forgot what it was like to sleep in my own bed. It's nice. There are, however, still many things that need to be fixed or even replaced. It has become a time of planning.

I have been looking at a new washers and dryers. How much does a single, senior citizen need to spend on such appliances? My laundry is minimal. Three loads a week max. Even so, I would like it to be the last laundry equipment I ever buy. So should I spend some bucks in the hope of getting equipment that will last for 20 years or should I go cheap? There are washer and dryer units available for less than 300.00 each. I hate making decisions like this, but I'm thinking about a step up from those units. We will see.

I have also been looking at smart TV's. Again, the options are all over the board. My townhouse living room is small. A big screen would make it very theater-like in there.

Next year, maybe granite counter tops, a new dishwasher, glass top stove and fridge. I'm thinking stainless steel finish on all of them. Wood floors in the living and dining areas and new carpet upstairs.

For the more immediate future - like right now, I will be getting a new kitchen faucet and garbage disposer. The plumber will be here next week. Apparently they are backlogged with the frozen pipe situation here in the mid west. Or maybe I just need a new plumber. I have been looking at doing it myself, but really, I kind of want it done right and I want to be able to complain about it after.

I also need to get a small dumpster and clean out the accumulated junk of my life to make room for the junk that I want to keep from my parents lives. They do have items that I like, some of which I have coveted over the years. I don't really like their furniture, but some of the wall hangings, dishes, pots and pans, silverware, books and sundry nick knacks have value to me. I also have to make a decision about the grandfather clock. I could find a place for it here, but do I really like it that much that I would move it. It's a delicate and monstrous piece of furniture that would require disassembly and reassembly. It's also very loud when it chimes and this is a confined space. I guess I could turn off the chimer. This will require more thought.

I have also been storing my Mom's car here at the condo. It currently has two flat tires and probably needs a new battery to get it going and then an oil change. 

Once I have this place in order, I will be able to start work on the parents place. That will take some time and even more dumpsters(;^) There will be things I will miss about that place. It was wooded to the north and east. All kinds of wildlife passed through the property. I won't be able to shoot the squirrels or see the deer, wild turkey, raccoons, opossum or coyotes anymore. But then I won't have to ride a lawnmower for three hours or pull weeds either.

Some have suggested that living on the south side may not be safe. I have to tell you that I hear more gunfire out at my parents house than I do here. Actually I have heard none here. Even so, I will probably keep the guns I have inherited and I may purchase a side arm.

This is a very diverse neighborhood and I like it. There are seniors, singles, Hispanic and African Americans here. I believe there are also many like me, but then there were many like me in Altoona so the move will not be a big deal in those terms. So onward into the fog!

Life In Transition

We humans always seem to be moving on or out or up or down. Life is always in flux, even as we age, in preparation for that final move on. It seems that God or circumstance or random chance forces us to get up and get out. Like Cain, God makes us wanderers upon the earth, though hopefully, not for the same reasons.

I have spent the last 10 months in befuddlement, not sure what to do since my parental care duties came to an abrupt end. I have also been overwhelmed with maintenance issues in my parents house. As much as I like the property it sits on, I wish the house would just collapse so that I could build something more suitable on the property. I do not think that will happen and I really do not want to spend all my time mowing lawn, moving snow and fixing sagging infrastructure.

With that in mind, last week I ventured over to my other condo property on the south side. It's a two story townhouse with attached garage. I went inside and it was as if time had stood still for the last six years. Everything was as I had left it when my parent's lives began to fall apart in the spring of 2011. There were even two 2011 calendars on different walls. There were still cans and jars of stuff in the fridge and in the pantry. No biology experiments, but definitely an archaeological study. The only thing that I really had done to the place in the last six years was to change the furnace filter a few times.

The place has minor dust build up and many cobwebs, but otherwise it seems beautiful and reasonably new. It felt like home. After about ten minutes of being there, I said, "Lord, this is where I want to be". So I began cleaning and straightening up things. I dumped the fridge contents, though I was tempted to try the six year old can of Coors Light that I found. I tested the appliances. The stove worked. The microwave worked. The dishwasher worked. But other things did not work.

The three toilets had not been flushed in six years. They will need some work. The hot water heater is out. I hope it's only a thermocouple issue. The garbage disposal needs something, maybe replaced. The motor will not budge, even with the manual crank. The kitchen faucet needs something too. When I flip the handle, water comes out the sprayer nozzle. Something is not right.

But even with all these repairs facing me, I believe I want to live here. They are minor issues that are easily resolved and not costly. I can live here and begin preparing my parent's place for sale. It will be like going to work every day. I vaguely remember how to do that. Once that's done, I can decide if I want to move again or stay in the townhouse or whatever.

I am no longer a young man. Downsizing will be a good thing for me. Please pray for my progress. Maybe my last home should be a single story condo? The stairs in the townhouse can wear an old guy out. It will be worse when I'm 70 if I live that long.

Faith and the Southpaw

An interesting story from the Telegraph:

Left-handed people are more likely to be atheists, a study has found, as it says belief is passed on genetically.  The study suggests that religious people have fewer genetic mutations and are therefore less likely to be left handed or have conditions such as autism or schizophrenia.
British academic Edward Dutton, a professor at Oulu University, Finland, said that in pre-industrial times religiosity was passed on like other genetic attributes because it was associated with greater stability, mental health and better social behaviour. But modern science means many people who would not previously have survived are making it to adulthood and reproducing - leading to a greater incidence of atheism.

Lack of belief in God is connected to genetic mutations which cause attributes such as left-handedness or autism, the paper argues.

I know lefties that are believers and I know some right handed atheists. That said, the study is interesting. You should check out the link above.

Another left handed item of interest from the Guardian:

There is also research which purports to show that left-handers are more likely to be homosexual. So does that mean my son is more likely to, as they say, dress to the left ? 'That was a very small and badly conducted study,' says Lauren Milsom. A recent article in Psychological Bulletin disagrees. Collating many different studies, it concluded that gay men are more likely to be left-handers - at least in America, where the research was concentrated.

As a right handed American gay man, I can say I am the exception to the rule. I have known many same sex attracted individual and strangely, more often than not, they were left handed. I have also found this to be true among lesbians. Odd no? Why this would be, I cannot imagine, unless it's all tied up in genetics.

So the next time you spy a southpaw, check them out. There is a good chance he/she will be an autistic, atheist homosexual.

Not sure I'm buying what they are selling, but it is interesting.