Orange of Summer

     As a rule, orange is not my color.  My skin tone has too much yellow or green and the color orange clashes, except when I have a dark tan. In college I made a lined suit that was orange.  Mother chose the fabric for me and I didn't like the suit at all because of the color and maybe, just maybe I wore it one time.

     However, the orange of summer excites me.  In the following collage are three things I look forward to every year; the butterfly weed, the orange daylily and the bright orange fungus that grows in my yard every year.  This fungus grows at the base of an oak tree and is the size of three dinner plates side by side.  It is enormous and always brings that bright orange color into a "green" yard.  Since we live in the woods there are very few plants that provide such a striking color.

     Then I thought about the color orange some more and remembered two more things that are orange that are my favorites. One is O.J. our cat who has no modesty at all. Carrots is the second thing with a drizzle of a mixture of melted butter, brown sugar and a dash of nutmeg onto them.Yummy! 

     Orange, I think I love you.

Great Day for Fishing

   Yesteday was a great day for fishing, if you are a fisherman, which I am not. However, my daughter and granddaughter are fishermen (fisherwomen).  I had been warned early on by my daugthter that they intended to fish for a couple of hours, could I hold out that long or would I be wanting to leave.  "No, no, I'll stay." I told her.

   We hit the trail, the trunk loaded with a picnic lunch and fishing gear.  We passed a four corners intersection and we saw one  of our favorite buildings. I've always wanted to go through it, look for treasures. I love the writing on the wall, it tells the whole story of what was once sold from there.

   Along the drive to Rough River Dam the bright orange butterfly weed and trumpet vines caught my attention.  Fluffy fish shapes and manatee shapes dotted the clouds.  A good omen, lots of fish today.

   First we went to the picnic area and had  our picnic lunch, sandwiches and fruit; grapes, honeydew melon and mango.  Yum!  When a cookie was dropped on the ground, Tiffany threw it into the yard.  This was how it landed.  Another great omen.  The Universe was in our favor.

                 

   Soon we were at the dam where Tiffany and Elizabeth baited their hooks.  The sun was getting hot. I knew I wasn't going to last in the heat, however I was going to do my best, after all, I had promised.  I moved further away from the fisherwomen so they wouldn't snag my hair with their hooks when they cast their lines.  Little did I know that their lines had a magic button that dropped the line.

   I became mesmerized by the yellow bobber.  I would suggest that you not look at the bobber for more than a minute or you, too, will become mesmerized.  Then I had a profound thought.  That was exactly why people like to fish, it lulls them into a state of meditation. 

Further down the metal scaffolding that stretched across the water, I looked for fish that might be swimming before they went over the dam's edge. We were high above the rushing water.

Did I tell you that I get bored quickly.  Second revelation, I am not patient.  It takes patience to be a fisherman, so I watched the martins fly into the dam wall holes and studied the lichen growing from another hole.

   Enough!  I'd had enough of the heat and the waiting.  I asked Tiffany if she had seen any fish.  "How many people do you know that live on the expressay?"  It took me a minute to process that reply.  I asked if she had any nibbles and she pulled her line out of the water and her worm was still on the hook.  She said, "I'm surprised my worm hasn't drowned by now".

   I needed shade so I went to the pavilion wtih picnic tables and pulled out the big guns...my coffee.  Smart thinking on my part, by now it was way past my coffee time...and clearly approaching an hour of fishing, another hour to go.

I watched the women from the distance, sipped my coffee, took a photo of a rusty chain and waited for the next hour to pass...and it did soon enough.  I had my third revelation; that if times got really tough, I'd starve, but the patient fisherwomen would be eating fish, that is if they were biting. It was a great day for fishing, but not catching fish.