Catch a Fish at Bobs Lake

I am at the head of a table that I have not been at for a long time. I am eating yogurt with granola and berries. The boys, Adam (my cousin) and Tristan (my fiance) are playing battleship. Conversing about work. They’ve never met before this trip although I am not sure you would be able to tell.

We came to Ontario for Thanksgiving. I promised my grandma when I saw her in South Africa that I would visit my Grandpa in October. I am glad I kept the promise. We’ve been out East for five days. At the cottage for three of them. I have been disconnected from the internet for those three days and somehow my nervous system feels as though it has reset itself. We spent the time eating, talking, walking, fishing, quading and laughing. When there feels like there's nothing to do, crossword puzzles fill my time.

This morning I went for a quick swim in the lake. It is 12 degrees outside and the lake I would describe as freezing. I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do something hard. Mind over matter. If you constantly do hard things then, nothing is impossible. It was difficult to get in, once in it was frigid yet wonderful. Getting out the air felt warm. 

Yesterday Adam took Tristan and I fishing for a few hours. We caught four large mouth bass from 14 inches to 18 inches, 2 pike and one little perch. The bass were all big enough to keep, yet we kept none. For a minute or two we debated it but looking in the fish's hopeless eyes, knowing we already had dinner in the oven, we released them. On the project to 100 journeys one of my goals was to catch and cook a bass on the same day from Bobs Lake. Now here catching big enough fish, it doesn’t feel right. I am going to modify the goal to something that aligns with me. Spend time with family at Bobs Lake.

In my childhood my parents would send us to Ontario every summer. We would spend time with both sides of the family and usually spend a week or two with my cousins at their cottage. We would swim, boat, hunt frogs and have a wonderful time exploring many different avenues. Coming back six years later nothing has changed. It is a slice of heaven.

Now at home I write the rest from my desk looking out at the grey sky. I love escaping our world that Tristan and I created and coming into a bit of the unknown. It was nice to spend that much quality time together. Right now in our relationship we hardly ever fight and we thoroughly just enjoy each other. We went to Niagara Falls and a few Vineyards. We have a good life, it was nice to be reminded of that.

So no I did not catch, kill and eat a fish but I did have a wonderful journey with no regrets. Life is very hard. Yet it is very wonderful.