Getting hooked on self care

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.

Henry David Thoreau

Well, thanks to the Daughter Person and Son-In-Law, I’m already ahead of last year on at least one front that’s important to me: fishing. Plus, the weather couldn’t have been more pleasant. We spent a couple of hours this morning in their boat on a nearby lake, playing with little bluegills and a couple of pint-sized bass. The official reports on the lake note an abundance of both species but below average sizes. I can vouch for that. Many of the bluegills were so small they couldn’t mouth a size 14 or 16 wooly worm, but it was fun watching them try to eat it within a few feet of the boat. It has been entirely too long since I’ve been fishing. Last year we (the Better Half and I) totally failed to wet a line. We’ll try to do better from now on. (I just remembered Yoda's “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”)

It turned out my fly casting isn’t as rusty as I feared it might have become, but I established a new personal worst by somehow entangling the leader in the innards of the fly reel. I’ve never done that before. The old phrase “Use it or lose it!” comes again to mind since the fly rod I took this morning hasn’t seen daylight for several years. Slowly but surely all my fly tackle will get sorted out, organized, and put to good use. In fact, I just realized that some gold-ribbed hare’s ear nymphs I tied years age, that may well not fool a trout, could be just the thing for playing with pan fish next time we go out. I’ll also remember to bring a fly rod more in line with the diminutive size of the fish, which will undoubtedly make for excitement when something bigger eats the fly.

flies for pan fish or trout

Photo by J. Harrington

Come afternoon it's time again to do the weekly Community Supported Agriculture [CSA] pickup. This week’s box contents include:

• COLLARDS
• KOHLRABI
• GREEN BELL PEPPER
• CUCUMBER
• SUMMER SQUASH, and
• GREEN CABBAGE

Last week there was a note in our box that Bilko cabbage was missing. We probably ended up with extra summer squash and green beans. Part of the fun of CSA membership is there are no guarantees of what will be delivered. It’s not the same as going to a big box store and picking one of these and one of those. I have mixed feelings about the lack of green beans this week. They’ve been really tasty but we’ve eaten quite a few the past couple of weeks. As unreasonable as it may sound, I really wish someone would figure out how to make fresh vegetables as tasty as junk food. Else, it feels as if doing something that I know is good for me is almost a punishment, despite the Better Half’s creativity with salads and side dishes and quiches.

Now, I’m sharing with you a challenge I’m making to myself: over the duration of at least the summer, I’m going to engage in one or more of these 60+ self care ideas every day. Feel free to join in. It’s a variation on the concept that “Living well is  the  best  revenge.” 

Remember

Joy Harjo
1951 – 

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.

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Please be kind to each other while you can.