fog & fishing in Town Neck

This morning I couldn’t sleep, it was foggy.  I’ve always loved fog.  I grabbed my camera, a few bills for coffee and slipped out quietly so Jeff could sleep a little longer.  It was a little after five.  After taking a few shots in my yard, I was bored.  I drove to the beach and ran into a friend walking to work.  I watched as he vanished into the fog.

 

Then I drove to the canal to take pictures of the guys fishing.

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I witnessed some lovely fishermen camaraderie.  I got quite an education too.  I tried to not be in the way.  I think I might’ve been a couple of times. But, they were gentlemen and didn’t mention it to me.  Mark, Norman and Nick seemed like pretty good guys.

 

This fish really didn’t want to give up the fight.  He was in too rough of shape to be thrown back.  I think I saw the last breathe of this 38″ (37.5″ to be exact) striper.

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R.I.P. big guy

Mark (tan shirt) offered his fish to Norman and his son, Nick.  Norman soon had a fish on his line and his son helped him pull it up.  It was all a thrill and the fog added some drama to the whole scene…oh, how I love fog.

 

Later Norman caught another one and released it because it was in good shape.  They were going home with two good sized fish (one caught and one gifted already).  I appreciated seeing the care taken to get the hook out as cleanly as possible.  Norman threw it back into the Cape Cod Canal to live another day.

Swim on little fella, there’s mackerel to dine on.

 

Mark, Norman and Nick were good guys.  I bought them coffee to thank them for letting me take photos…it seemed like the least I could do.  Mark and I take our coffee the same, “black with cream”.  I found this funny…black with cream.  I’ll never order it any other way again.

By getting out of my comfort zone, I was given access to a world I had little knowledge of. 

I usually sit on my porch in the morning or walk the same loop. 

This morning the siren song of fog lured me to explore and I was handsomely rewarded. 

 

Thanks fellas for one of my favorite mornings in Town Neck.

What is “rewilding” to you?

Saturday I was listening to NPRs TED RADIO Hour in my studio. Here’s the link.

http://www.npr.org/player/embed/225426662/225429850.

George Monbiat used two terms I found utterly fascinating and relevant: rewilding & ecologically bored.  This is a fascinating TED TALK about bringing the wolves back to Yellowstone Park, however it’s the story within that story that resonated with me.

Wikipedia: “Rewilding is large-scale conservation aimed at restoring and protecting natural processes and core wilderness areas, providing connectivity between such areas, and protecting or reintroducing apex predators and keystone species. Rewilding projects may require ecological restoration or wilderness engineering, particularly to restore connectivity between fragmented protected areas, and reintroduction of predators where extirpated.”

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Ellis and Adam jumping off the East Sandwich, Mass bridge.

We live in an era where so much information is at our fingertips all the time and because of it a lot of time is spent hunched over a computer all day.  We need to “rewild” for the sanity of our modern day lives.  Now, “rewilding” can obviously go to extremes and it would be very different for everyone.  It could be as grand as giving up every trapping of modern life and taking off with your belongings on your back OR it could mean that you are going to take a walk at lunch instead of sitting in front of your computer all day long.

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My husband, Jeff and I parasailing.

However, it’s the second term I found so interesting…ECOLOGICALLY BORED.  After spending a summer learning to navigate Cape Cod Bay and area harbors in a kayak.  IMG_5448

I now know that I was indeed “ecologically bored”.  I really needed to get in touch with that innate part of myself that uses intuition, muscle memory, wonder and strength.  I now realize that it had been way too dormant in me lately. Sometimes we don’t know what’s missing in our lives.

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A beach fire on Town Neck.

So, however you “rewild” or satisfy your “ecological boredom”…

I wish you the best. You won’t regret it.