The Silence of the Fish

I don't eat fish. I also don't particularly understand the lure of fishing (pun intended) but I can see where it could be rather relaxing. I started out my formative years in the Midwest and we vacationed on one of Minnesota's largest lakes. To me, fishing is either sitting in a boat in the middle of a lake too big to even see across or sitting alone on the end of the dock with Grandpa's scarecrow JoJo looking out over that same lake. I can see where it would be a nice activity if you enjoy solitude. It seems very tranquil. Not to mention a good opportunity to sit in the sun and get a tan. But coming from a person who keeps a magazine on the front seat of her car for long stoplights, it seems a little too tranquil for me. My brain can't sit still for that long. On the flip side, I can see where it would be a lot of fun to sit in a boat, drinking beer, and hanging with friends while you fish. But that brings me back to the fact that I don't eat fish. Or touch them. Or touch worms. So I guess I'd really just be in it for the sun and the beer and I can do that on the deck overlooking the lake. Same tranquility, less stink.

But I digress.....

I don't understand the people who fish along the busy road coming to our house. There is a two-lane road that goes between a lake and a pond. A very small strip of grass and weeds lies between the metal guardrail and the lake. People stand there all summer long and fish while cars rush by at a minimum of the 45 mph speed limit. That just doesn't seem relaxing to me.

So do they need the fish? Are they too poor to go out and buy fish for dinner at the grocery store? Or do they just like fish fresh from the lake coated with the pungent aroma of car exhaust? Are they doing some family bonding with each other? It seems to me it would be hard for a father to bond with his son while he is hoping one of the cars whizzing by doesn't go off the road and kill the both of them. I can see where fishing would be an enjoyable activity in the right setting but is it such a compulsion that you need to do it in the middle of rush hour on the one busy road leading in and out of town from the interstate? It's not even the only fishing spot in town so why there?

I think the reason it bugs me so much is that I feel sorry for those people. At least I've experienced the purity of the experience in it's truest, Midwestern form. And while I may not eat fish - something I blame on the fact that I used to watch Grandpa clean the fish - I'm glad that I've been able to have that experience.