Argosgirl Update – Salmon Spectacular Time
I’m clearly not in a very clever frame of mind these days, judging by the title of this post. I spend a lot of time thinking about all of the things I want to write, then I find myself too busy or too tired to make it happen. Today is one of those too tired moments, so I’m forcing myself to jot some words down to get the creative juices flowing.
After a long week of being sick and having vehicle issues, I am extremely thankful that the weekend is now here and the Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular has started. This derby is one of the highlights of our year, so much so that we actually timed our vacation days to coincide with it. A floating city on the water is the best way to describe this event, with an amazing number of boats and shore anglers participating in the derby each year. While we belong to the group of people that don’t catch many fish during this week, we always have a fun time.
Looking forward to finding some more rainbows like this one from last year’s derby.
For the second year in a row, we’ll be keeping the boat at the awesome Georgian Shores Marina so we can spend as much time fishing as possible, without having to launch each day. I smile when I think back to my first experience in this derby, when we didn’t have a boat of our own so we fished from shore (which is great, but I’m happier in a boat), the weather was awful the weekend we were there, we camped in the back of the van, and I was generally grumpy the entire time. That was before I found my love for trolling, big water, and big silver fish. Since that year we bought Luma, our 12-foot aluminum boat, and spent as much time as possible out in her during each derby. I even had a great boss who used to let me leave early or take a day off to get up there for the event. But there was always one downside to Luma – she couldn’t go out in less than perfect weather. So we bought a bigger boat. And last year we safely went out in weather that would have kept us on shore previously. And we had a lot more action than years past. I can’t wait to get out there and troll all day and night. Maybe we’ll finally catch something nice out there!
However, our plan to get to Owen Sound today is slowed by a few factors. Being as sick as we were this week means we’ve fallen behind on a lot of chores, so today is catch-up. Then there’s the car problems – Darrell’s currently getting parts to replace the serpentine belt in the car, since the belt went on my drive home the other day. After getting the boat to the water, we were hoping to use the car to drive us back and forth.
Of course, we need to drive back and forth because I keep increasing the number of animals we have here. Chicken Math has completely taken over and I went from my original four hens, to 13 chickens, to now having 21 chickens, including a few roosters (when I swore I would never have more than one rooster). They are all such a blast to have around. Today’s entertainment was introducing the new flock to the main one for the first time. The roosters had it out for a bit but everyone has since settled. Now, in my copious amounts of spare time, I need to renovate the chicken coop to allow for more pens and outdoor runs.
The two flocks meeting in the open for the first time. It amazes me that I have so many of these feathered pets hanging around now.
When I mentioned vehicle issues, it wasn’t just the car. I had truck troubles on my way home last night. While I was stressed out, tired, and feeling terrible, I had no less than six wonderful people stop to offer help. Two gentleman offered me food and water while I waited for Darrell, offered me a phone if I needed it, and chatted with me to help pass the time. I can’t express how grateful I am for the kindness of strangers. Other drivers were stuck trying to get around me and work through traffic, but not one of them was rude or cranky about it. Many offered help. Thank goodness for small towns and rural communities. Then there were the friends that I called and had to ask them to drive to our house and get Darrell to call me, since our phones have such spotty reception here. I can’t thank them enough for doing that.
Life continues to be busy. There is never enough time for fishing or writing, but I’m loving every minute of what we’re doing. We are gradually turning our little farm into something that supports our goals. Our vegetable garden has done well this year (the evidence is in my quickly filling up freezer), we have more eggs than we can eat, we get to spend a lot of time together, and we have fun. Fishing continues to be our main venture – we talk about it constantly, we dream about it, and we try to get out every weekend. Weeks like this coming one, when fishing is all that we have planned, are absolutely cherished. I can’t wait to get out on that big water and have some fun.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
argosgirl
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