It was the only fish caught that day...

The Fish I Caught
Originally uploaded by metaphoric.

As probably anyone would know, saying that I know how to fish would be akin to saying that a chicken knew how to fly. ie. both are vague attempts at simulating the movements required to perform the action, without really knowing what went into really doing it.

But there it was. I made my first cast - very much aided by dad who said, "You hold the line here like this, and toss the line in with a flicking movement of the wrist..." And so I mimicked the action as best I could and the line went in. Quite a distance. "And then we wait." said the dad. That's the boring bit.

Sceptical brother in the background going "I don't think there's any fish around there."

And so I reeled the line in thinking there wasn't much point anyway and wanted to try again (the fun is in the casting I have to tell you).

The line came in quite a ways actually, but there was a tugging on the line like a weight (I thought seaweed) at the end of it. And then the rod started to twitch. "You know what?" said dad, "I think she may have actually gotten a fish."

"What?! Like on the first try?"

I pulled a bit faster. My reeling wasn't really in a rush anyway - I felt sorry for any poor fish that may have inadvertently gotten stuck at the end of my line. The sinker broke the surface and with it, was a shiny, flipping bluegill at the end of the line.

I was afraid of the flapping, flailing fish the whole time. But somehow managed to keep it at arm's length enough to take a picture.

That was my first (and probably only time) fishing.

As you can see, I'm not into fishing (under-statement of the year). But it must have been beginner's luck - as it was the only fish caught that day.

The Vernal Wood picture from my childhood

Fall and Forests

This season, cinnamon, hollies and Halloween are all the rage for Fall (aka Autumn to some peeps in the Northern Hemisphere). Bath and Body Works is cashing in on the theme of warmth, mulling spices, and pumpkins. Pumpkins are big and the smell of spices and apples are everywhere.

It's lovely. Fall is my favourite season in the year, and being immersed in it in a way that I've not been before, I completely know why.

My mum had a photo album when I was ten. On the cover was a photo print of forests during fall, with the verse (and I don't know why I remember this always - its one of those trivial things that stay in your long-term memory and wastes space there...) "One impulse from a vernal wood will teach you more of man/Of moral ages and of good than all the sages can". It was probably one of those photo albums that were made in Japan, but funny when I saw the forest today - that was what I was thinking.

The forest on the photo album looks like a picture in the next blog post I'm putting up - but this holly plant taught me something. It told me, "Grow despite, not because. And it is also saying to me, "Sometimes growing different to the background isn't a bad thing, it is in standing out that one finds oneself beautiful."