Karate and Fishing

I've been immersing myself in martial arts again. I always feel better physically and more grounded mentally when I do. I'd been working hard all week and my dear friend and I decided that a little fishing would be good. I learned a few life lessons fishing this week end.

Since we were early morning fishing I decided to bring a dozen muffins with me. No one wants to be hangery while trying to catch the illusive trout we were fishing for. We had just started to cast when a boy around the age of 10 came along. He was chatty and seemed to enjoy our company as much as he did fishing. I like to hang out with my friend as he's quiet a bit older than I am and he doesn't need to attached at the shoulder when we hang out. As long as we are with in bellowing distance of each other we are doing okay.

My friend went off down the creek to see if he could scout out a better area and my young friend went off the opposite way to scout out a couple fishermen who were to the opposite side. Muffins were offered to both of the boys. I was meditating deeply and leisurely casting while I had my alone time. I suppose the conversation he found with me was better and he returned shortly. “Where did your husband go?” he inquired. “Pardon?” I asked, not because I couldn't hear what he said, but I was a little bit in disbelief. My “husband” years have LONG gone and it was odd to have someone refer to me as such, not that the kid was in error. How was he to know I am a lesbian. It was a non judgmental statement, which I chose not to correct. “Where did your husband go?” he repeated. Yup he said what I thought he said. The man I was fishing with is 67 years old and I am 37. I would have accepted the mistaken father, but husband? My meditation was complete lost. What on earth made this boy think that my dear friend was my husband? Perhaps I have not aged as well as I thought. Perhaps my friend looks younger than he actually is? Ah yes a lesson in humility can be gotten any where not just the dojo floor. “He's not my husband just a very dear friend.” I corrected.

Shorty there after my “husband” came by and headed down the other side of the creek. I was failing to see the humour in the statement at that point and believed that my “husband” didn't need his ego inflated just yet. We all began to fish when out of the corner of my eye I caught a blur. There are a lot of people walking dogs in that area and often times you see the dog well before you actually see the person. It took a moment to realize that it wasn't a dog nosing in at my freshly baked blueberry muffins it was a fox. The young boy spotted it as well. I called for my “husband” to see this incredible find, hoping that my bellowing would perhaps startle Mr. Fox from my breakfast. The fox pulled his head out of the bag keeping a close eye on the boy and I. The boy hauls out his knife and says, “I'll get him”. “NO dear Lord don't! Shoo fox shoo”. I bellowed again for my friend as he started to saunter over the fox took the opportunity while my attention was on the boy and my friend to take the entire shopping bag of a little over a dozen muffins in his mouth and run away spilling muffins left and right as he ran.

I explained the situation to my friend as he came up. “Darn it I was just coming back to grab one! At least we all had one!” he said with a bellyful laugh. “Not me! I hadn't had one yet!” I said in dismay. The boy left his gear in our safe hands and headed home to retrieve his phone. He returned with a bag of snacks and offered it all to us all. The fox got a belly full and our friend provided us with a meal, which was good because we didn't catch a darn thing. While the young lad was off exploring I informed my friend of the lad's mistake. “Ah hes just a boy, to him anyone over 16 is ancient.” He said obviously amused with the situation. I still don't buy that explanation, but I do see the humour in the boys statement now.

In the end I did get a blue berry muffin. My friend bought me one at Tim Hortons later on. It perhaps wasn't as tasty as the ones I had made, but then again those blueberry muffins didn't have the stories attached to them.