Reading: Antarctic Navigation, but I'm having trouble getting into it. It's a dense book that requires more concentration than I am willing to give on my vacation.

Weather: Beautiful! Sunny, clear, and about 80 degrees.

Background courtesy of
Ace of Space

Daniel Goes Fishing

We talked to my uncle Jim last night about the funeral arrangements for Nana. The viewing won't be until Sunday evening, and the funeral will be on Monday morning. Jim scheduled it that way, knowing that family members who want to attend will be traveling from Maine and upstate New York.

Meanwhile, my family is trying to work out travel arrangements. Even though my mother was Nana's ex-daughter-in-law, she remained close to Nana and always considered her a second mother. She wants to attend the funeral, as do all three of my sisters. Lori will be traveling down to New Jersey with her family on Sunday. Monica and Susannah both want to attend, but they each have cars in poor condition that may not be able to make the thousand-mile round trip. My mother's Honda has more than 100,000 miles, so it is not a good car for them to take, either. We have offered to take someone down with us when we leave on Saturday, but that person would have to find her own way home.

This morning Tab and Daniel were out the door early and off to my father's house on North Pond in Smithfield. Daniel has been begging to go fishing for years, and my Dad had offered to take him during this visit. We'd tentatively planned the fishing expedition for this morning, and fortunately the weather cooperated since this morning will be our only chance. Dad and Bunny are leaving for Scarborough this afternoon where they will be spending the night at Bunny's mother house, and on Friday they will be driving on to New Jersey to be with the family.

Both Tab and Dad said Daniel did remarkably well for his first fishing experience. After less than twenty minutes he was casting like a pro, sending the line flying 30 or 40 feet at a time. In fact, he was throwing the line so far, Dad was afraid he'd get it tangled in the bushes on the other side of the boat launch. "Put in the middle, Daniel," Dad told him, and Daniel did it, every time.

And he caught two fish! Two tiny perch, about eight inches long, but Daniel was terribly excited by his catch. They threw them back in, of course. Tab was there to document the occasion with still pictures and video.

For several years it has been a kind of tradition on our visits to Maine for Tab and me to have lunch at the local Chinese restaurant with my sister Susannah and her husband Kevin. Kevin couldn't make it today, but Susannah met us for lunch, and we enjoyed getting a chance to visit with her.

In the evening, Tab, the boys, and I drove to Embden to my sister Monica's for dinner. Although it was too cool to go swimming, the boys were excited to see their fourteen-year-old cousin Mollie and to play on the trampoline. After dinner, Uncle Phil took each of the boys for a ride on his four-wheeler through the woods behind their home. We all had a great time.

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