First Day Of My Birthday Week

First let me apologize for getting at my daily blog a bit late today. I shortened my bike ride to thirty minutes early this morning, not because it was raining in Houston, but because I remembered that I had checked the forecast for Bon Wier, Texas and that it was supposed to be clear all day. I had the bright idea to celebrate the first day of my birthday week by putting on some of my birthday clothes (pants and a long sleeved tee, both wicking) and treating myself to a part work day, part fishing day in the East Texas Piney Woods.

So I composed a short note to my wife saying I was going to the Bon Wier property to work and fish in my new birthday clothes and would be back before dark. It is a 150 miles there which takes right at two and a half hours to drive. So I grabbed my back pack with my fishing gear and a battery operated reciprocating saw and left the house at 5 am.

It was raining when I left but quit half way there. It was day light when I got there and overcast, but not raining. First up with my saw I cleared some room on the path that my son and I began clearing last weekend so I could get my truck off the road.

Then needing a break I drove to Merryville, Louisiana a mere thirteen miles a way. The state line is about three. The Sabine River is the state line. At a Texaco station on the way back I got some night crawlers for fishing. I always have better luck with live bait than lures.

Back at the property I put the night crawlers in my back pack along with some beef jerky, pistachios, and a V8 (a fellow needs fuel to work and fish.) My one remaining task before fishing was to try to get a paddle boat, that the previous owner of the property had left in the pond, ashore so I could check it out and see if it could be serviceable with some clean up and maybe repair. I was able to wade out to it but it was so full of rain water than I knew I would need to bail most of the water out if I had any hope of getting it up on the shore by myself. I remembered seeing a couple of glass bottles along the fence line so I left my back pack and saw near the paddle boat and went for a hike. I located both of the bottles and enjoyed the walk.

After bailing a while I discover three turtles had gotten caught in one of the pedal wells. I took their picture then freed them, no time for turtle soup today.

After tying the boat to a tree I tried my hand at fishing finally. After about thirty minutes of drowning worms I landed a catfish, just one but I took several pictures before letting it join the turtles back in the pond.