The Fishing Camp

When Mark was adding a room to our house years ago, I told him that I wanted this room to look like a "fishing camp". The room was supposed to become our living room and in that room, I wanted to display a lot of the antique fishing gear that I had accumulated. Over the past years, many people have given me lures, rods, paddles, boat steering wheels and other "collectibles"! It was only proper that these be displayed in this room since it would overlook the Bay. An old saying comes to mind at this point.."Be careful what you wish for......." and I should have been.

The room is exactly as I wished with a few minor points that need to be remedied. As always things need to be repaired, updated or just simply "finished". Ask any person and you will get an answer that things need to be changed in their house. Still, I like the room. I have proudly displayed things related to fishing and the water in the room. Both Mark's family and my family have ties to the water if for no other reason than just the love of fishing. Some of these things adorn the walls while others are hung from the exposed ceiling beams. Why even the rug has a fishing theme woven in as the design! But I had no idea just how far this would go...until this evening.

Just about dark, Ezzy, the dog, and I made our way down the board path to gather in the birdfeeders. If I forget and leave these out overnight, the raccoons steal them..not just the seeds but the whole feeders! As we neared the driftwood post where the feeders hang, I heard voices. Someone was on the water right near the pier. This is not an unusual occurrence as fishermen seem to think our pier is some magical fishing spot but it was the tone of their voices that concerned me. Obviously, they were having motor trouble and were not too happy about it. One was cranking and cranking on that poor motor while his fishing buddy was offering bits of advice, some of which seemed to be more aimed at the ineptness of the first guy. To put it mildly, they both were getting a mite frustrated about the entire episode. It was then that a thought hit me.."Mark left his new trolling motor on his boat!" This thought was followed by another.."What if these guys were not of the nice sort? What if they took a liking to his motor and saw it as a possible means of getting home?" I hurried back inside and asked Son to fetch the motor! Would these fishermen have "borrowed" the motor? I cannot say. If they were "true fishermen" they would not have touched someone else's gear but still, I did not want to leave the temptation! That new motor was out there like a sitting duck!

Needless to say, I have now acquired a trolling motor in my "Fishing Camp-themed Living Room"! This new addition to the room caused me to take a gander at what else had assembled itself into the room. Ahh..there was a new paddle which was a gift to Mark from his nephew, there were reels leaning in the corner and now a trolling motor! I have to admit that the reels are mine!! These are the ones that I use when fishing from the pier but, then again, this is not exactly what I had in mind when I asked for the room to resemble a fishing camp! I wanted antique stuff in here..I did not want this to be a substitute shed! Tomorrow...the motor will find a new storage area, the reels will be put up until Summer and the paddle..well, the paddle..might possibly be confiscated as an art project! Hmm...I could always paint it! Hmmm!