Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The Band-Aid Trip

That's my Band-Aid. The nurses always put happy stickers on everyone's Band-Aids to cheer patients up. It works! Look how happy that sparkly Band-Aid is! Every two months I pay a visit to the Huntsville Hospital chemo clinic for an infusion of Remicade, the drug that has tamed my Crohn's disease and changed my life. (If you, or someone you know is struggling with Crohn's, you need to try this drug.) I take it with a side dish of Benadryl and the whole thing makes me goofy for the rest of the day so I always take the whole day off. Last Friday the weather forecast was good, we had no kids and no plans, so we decided to use the extra time to make an impromptu trip up to Kiosk to see if the fishing situation had improved. We were there a month ago and the fish were apparently still sleeping in, their cosy blanket of winter ice barely thawed.

See my hair? It's literally oily with bug spray. Going camping/fishing this time of year is crazy because of black flies. They're tiny little pains in the arses that swarm in your face and literally scrape the flesh off you, one teeny divot at a time. I don't know what we were thinking. Look at my smile, though. That's a Benadryl-looped smile if I've ever seen one.

The bug arsenal: Dave works feverishly to light a Pic. At his elbow is a liberally used can of bug dope. Both are probably highly toxic chemicals. I sprayed my leg with Off and then it literally STUCK TO THE BOAT. It was like I was Krazy Glued! When I finally peeled my leg away a whole bunch of BOAT PAINT came with it! 

Our dog Misty HATED the bugs. She tried to hide everywhere. Even in the grass. Eventually we plopped her in the tent so she wasn't such an all-you-can-eat bug buffet.

Our camping buddy did a lot of mooching. Bagels, popcorn, whatever was being offered.  Chipmunks are the friendliest little critters. Dave's late father used to call them "bush tigers" because of their stripes. I love that expression. 

A white pine near the beach. All the new growth is directed towards the sun, creating a uni-directional pattern that reminds me of the old tuft quilts Dave's mom used to make.

Dave and Misty take a stroll down at the beach.

The call of a loon. So haunting. So quintessentially Canadian. They're curious birds, diving underwater and popping up close to the boat, curious to see what we're up to and who is catching more fish, us or them. Usually it's them.

Fishermen with a lot of money have down-riggers and lots of fancy equipment to get down to where the lake trout hang out. Some parts of Lake Kioshkokwi are 160 feet deep and more so the average fishing line will not get down that far. Here, Dave uses his father's old Murphy troller for steel line fishing. It's a bit of an art, letting out all that steel line, then keeping it at a perfect distance from the bottom of the lake. It's one of the things I admire about Dave – his proficiency with simple, old-time tools and his knowledge of the outdoors.

Now THIS is MY fish! We didn't weigh it but Dave figured this bass was at least six pounds – the biggest bass he has ever laid his hands on! No, we didn't keep it. First of all we always catch and release because we want to preserve fish stocks for future generations. But bass is also out of season. We were trolling for some speckles when these hungry monsters jumped on our lines. This was the biggest one, by far, but man oh man there are a LOT of big bass in this lake.

The fish master in action. "Keep a bend in your pole" is what he is always yelling at me as I reel in my catch.

And he's into the net! So exciting!

Dave's not happy at all, can you tell?

Another mighty bass smiles pretty. Check out the scenery. Isn't it spectacular? I love this lake. I can hardly wait to go back up – hopefully when the black flies are done.

Misty loves fishing almost as much as we do. She curls up in a pile of life jackets and catches some Zs.

If you didn't know already, Dave's been a Chrysler mechanic his whole life so you'll understand if he's a little bit Chrysler-happy. While we were having breakfast the other morning we heard the distinctive sound of a vehicle getting stuck at the boat launch. "Go help," I said to Dave. Sure enough, a nice young couple in a Ford Explorer was trying to pull their boat and trailer up the rocky shore – to no avail. Dave threw a tow rope on the back of our Jeep and, without even spinning a wheel, walked that Ford and its boat and its trailer right up that bank like nobody's business. As soon as we were out of earshot Dave smirked ear to ear. "My Chrysler just pulled a Ford out of the lake," he said. He could hardly wait to show the photo to his buddies at work.

In closing, I just want to say that sometimes I get tired of fishing in a lake. Sometimes I want to try my luck in trees, to see if the fish are any different there. For some reason, Dave gets grouchy when he has to pull my line out of a tree. Men, eh? Go figure...

33 comments:

  1. Cathy,
    What a great adventure you took me on...that was fun and I didn't even have to get my hands dirty putting the bait on the hook! FANTASTIC!!!
    glad you found a remedy for your Crohn's disease...and loved seeing the photo of you :)

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    1. Thanks Tracy!!! What a warm and friendly note. Making me smile here!!!

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  2. I would've bathed in Off and still been eaten alive.
    I bet fishing at the local aquarium would bring good results. Except when they called the police.
    So did you catch a lot of fish that you could keep?

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    1. HEHEHEHEH... fishing at the local aquarium... you're a funny ninja, you!
      Nah, we didn't keep any fish... we almost never keep them. For us the fun is in the catching, not the eating!

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  3. So beautiful, Cathy. Except for the bugs, of course. There's nothing like being on the water. Bush Tigers is a hilarous name for chipmunks! Funny little creatures. And oh, the sound of a loon call is the most hauntingly beautiful thing.

    And Dave, way to show that fish who's boss. :)

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    1. It is beautiful, Laurita, and I hate to say it, but it was worth the bugs. I have a hankering to go again this weekend but we have stuff to do around home so home it will be.

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  4. Crohn's Disease is a rough one from what I understand and I'm so glad the chemo works well for you.
    Sorry, but I can't understand the draw of the wild. When I was young I liked it but nowadays there's no way you could get me out there with all those bugs. I'm getting finicky in my old age.

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    1. It is rough, Rubye - my friend's mother died from it just a few months ago. Remicade has literally changed my life, though. Saved my colon. It's pretty wonderful stuff.

      I'm an outdoorsy girl, I guess. Being up in Kiosk literally makes my heart sing.

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  5. I remember my Grandad...everyone around him being eaten alive and not one bug would touch him. He uesd to say he had "bad blood" and he did, he had pernicious anemia. It was either that or the pipe smoke that kept them away.
    Hey, I'm with Dave. We're Chrysler people too.

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    1. No way, you're Chrysler people too??? We are like total sameys, Delores!!!!

      Yup, some people are lucky, bug-wise, although I guess having pernicious anemia isn't all that lucky. Bugs love me - that must mean I have very good blood??

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  6. Fish in trees? Would those be white pine crappies?

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    1. HAHAHAHAHA!!! You're funny, Tim, you know that right?

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  7. Sounds like you guys had a great time, but for the wretched black flies!

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    1. Wretched is the word... oh well, I killed as many as I could - wasn't going down without a fight!!!

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  8. Great pics of a great time. I'm glad that fish didn't get away. YUM! I have a close friend who's on the same medical regime you're on. She's rebounded like a flower to sunshine.

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    1. Oh! That is so great to hear, Kittie! See? Remicade is rather miraculous. I'm so glad your friend is doing so well!!

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  9. It's great you and Dave both love this stuff... a lovely thing to share. Bar the bugs.

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    1. We do love it. It's so nice to have someone to share your passion with! Thanks Carrie!

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  10. I haven't been fishing in over 20 years, but I think we're going this summer.
    I don't know how I feel about that.

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    1. I hope you love it!!! By the way, I am LOVING your book, Andrew! Really, really enjoying it. The kids you've drawn are wonderful, exciting realistic characters and that Sam is a keeper!

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  11. Anyone passionate enough about fishing to be eaten up by little flies, and then throws them back! The passion is everything; go for it.

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    1. The passion IS everything, Joanne. You're so right.

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  12. I am not brave enough to risk my life to the bugs. Sorry. It's just too risky.

    But I will pass this new medicine along to my two friends with Chrones...

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    1. Yes! Tell your friends. It's very expensive, this drug, but it will save their lives and save their colons.

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  13. Has it really been a month since our fantastic camping trip? Wow! Glad to see the "other lake" has an overabundance of fish! I am laughing out loud at your last paragraph! Ya gotta love them trees!

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    1. Yeah, I know... crazy eh? I can't believe how fast time flies.
      We're thinking of maybe going back in June for a quick weekend... if you're interested....

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  14. Never been one for fishing, and cracked up when you said you wanted to try your luck with the fish in the trees. Now hiking I can get behind.

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    1. Heheh! Thanks John! I love hiking but hiking doesn't love me because I have lousy knees. Mountain biking, though, I adore.

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  15. Looks like a fun-filled trip. My kids are begging us to go camping. But at them moment wifey and I are into hotel rooms.

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    1. Take 'em camping, Stephen!!!! Awesome lifetime memories for kids! When they're grown up, then you and your Mrs. get only the finest hotel rooms!

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  16. I have never heard of that drug but I'm sure glad they invented it. Also, looks like your family had a blast fishing.

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  17. Living with Crohn's is tough. My niece has it. Glad the infusions help.

    Just threw an award your way, check it out on my blog when you get the chance!

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  18. cool have been using trollers for my whole life now passed on from my grandfather, its rare to find people who use them these days be we easily out fish anyone pretty much anyday with a the murphy they are the best in my opinion for lakers, also side note I was a ranger at the kiosk camp.

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