Welcome, ven a gozar!

I really enjoy Carp fishing! Although it is fun to catch real game fish and take them home and eat them for dinner, I enjoy catching many bigger fish much more than one or two smaller game fish. Living in New Mexico, many of our lakes have been contaminated by gold mining of the past, and in some areas some fish contain excessively high levels of mercury. The high mercury content makes bigger fish a risk to eat from some lakes in the state. For these reasons Carp are perfect to fish for!

I always laugh when someone is fishing with me in a non trout lake. When they learn I want to fish for Carp, they look with a disdain usually saved for the most awful of odors. You want to fish for Carp, why? That is the usual question. Because it is the most fun, and most action you can get at almost any lake is the usual reply.

A good example is when I was fishing at Sumner Lake recently. There were two of us fishing for Carp, an two others who wanted to catch Channel Catfish. The fishing started out lopsided, it was Catfish one, Carp zero. I was starting to wonder if maybe I should put on something a catfish would find appealing.

Then I got the familiar tap, tap, tap, of the rod tip. Of course, I knew what was coming next. After a few minutes of a tough fight I was unhooking about an eight pound Carp. The two people fishing for Catfish tried not to look to excited, it was only a Carp after all.

A few minutes later my partner was reeling in a large sucker that put up quite a struggle before slowing slowing down enough to be netted. It was now Carp two, Catfish one. The Cat Fisherman were holding firm, but it was hard for them to hide their excitement. Catching hard fighting fish is a lot more fun than watching your fishing rod do nothing while you cook in the sun.

A few hours go by, and it is now Carp five and Catfish one. The Cat Fisherman can’t take it any more and ask, how do you fish for Carp? They take off their stink bait and put on some whole kernel corn, cast out, and wait for what they hope will be some throbbing rod, reel drag screaming action.

One of the two hooks into a hard fighting fish and lands a very big Sucker. My partner reels in another nice Carp. The two Cat Fisherman can no longer control themselves, they are barely containing themselves waiting for their turn to hook into a big Carp that will make their heart beat and their blood race.

One of the greatest things about Carp fishing is what you do not need to fish for Carp. All you need is a rod and reel, sinkers, hooks, and some bait. I am no Carping expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I have more than my share of fun catching Suckers and Carp. Put a light sinker on your line, tie on a hook, check your knots, and you are all set. It gets fancier of course, but this is all you need to have serious fishing fun.

For bait all you need is some cheap white bread, or canned whole kernel corn. Thread two to four pieces of corn on a small hook, size six to ten. I like Salmon egg hooks the best. If you are using bread pull off the crust and feed it to the ducks if there are any around. Take the white part of the bread and make a marble sized ball tight around the hook.

Cast it out, distance does not really matter, but try not to fish in weedy areas as Carp are mostly bottom feeding fish so you want your bait where the fish are, not floating above them on weeds. Ensure the drag on your reel is set right or you will end up breaking your line and losing a lot of fish. Remember the fish is on the end of your line and likely not going anywhere, but losing a hooked fish is a chance you take.

One final word of advice, imo, Carp make more rods and reels disappear into rivers and lakes than any other fish. I suggest holding on to yours, or tying a light cord on to your rod, and tying it off to something that can not be pulled in. Have fun!

I made it back home, it was so very nice to sleep in my own bed, get up at my own time, and look in the fridge for breakfast…well I will skip the breakfast part. I just want to sit and be a hermit for a day or so. I am one of those people who gets their batteries charged from being alone for some time each day, week, et-cetera, so a day or two alone is definitely what I have in mind for today. Even being fruit and lunch challenged, I really do not want to leave the house today.

One thing I enjoyed on the trip up to Minnesota and the ride back down is how people interact with each other, and how they show each other respect. Respect for other people has been twisted and mutilated in America over the years, imo. Respect is not some form of less than behavior or second class thinking. Showing respect for someone else is simply an acknowledgment that the person in front of you is worthy just like you. That is all there is to respect, or at least that is the basic idea of respect.

Respect has been twisted into an ugly violent, aggressive behavior in inner cities by people who think respect is commanded. These people live in a culture where respect is earned by violence, aggression, and brute force. That is not respect, it is only an acknowledgment that at that moment one person is physically superior to another. It sure is not any form of respect the average person wants or needs for themselves, or it should not be.

For those that remember the seventies there was a take off on the twenty-third psalm. It went something like this…”yeh, though I walk through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil because I am the baddest person in the whole valley.” If you were around in those days, you know there were a lot of similar versions of the same saying.

For me, in those days it did not mean that I was the toughest, strongest, or most violent person I knew, it meant that in some area, I was better at something than anyone else around me. There is always a whole pie to be sliced up in our daily world, and to compete in an arena that does not help the world be a better place is wrong on many levels.

In some areas that I drove through respect was commanded through fear and violence. It was not a pleasant environment to be in, but it is what ignorant violent people choose to manage their lives by. Too bad, because I am sure there is a lot of exceptional people and talent is being wasted on things that mean little or nothing to most of the country, let alone the world.

In other places, I saw people giving and receiving genuine respect from those around them, and it was pleasant to be in those areas where this for of behavior was prevalent. One does not reduce themselves by showing a form respect for another. The earth is really a small place, and as much as we sometimes think we are isolated from most people, how we interact with those around us does ripple out into and effect the whole world.

People show respect on different platforms, in the farming areas where it may be a person’s knowledge of farming practices, markets, or animal husbandry. In other areas, it was respect given for the wholesomeness of spirit and the willingness to really try and make a difference. In other communities, respect was shown for another’s business ability. At no time in these communities did I observe people being looked down upon, or thought to be less than the other person(s) around them. Everyone was appreciated for who and what they were, because deep down they know at some level everyone is important to make the world go ‘round.

I left Minnesota three days ago and I am now in the Dallas/Fort Worth cooling my heels. On the drive up to Minnesota I bypassed Kansas City for a look at more rural country. On the way down here it was I35 all the way. There were a few serious thunderstorms along the way which made driving tough, and slow. There were also a lot more flooded and wet fields where it looks doubtful that anything will be planted that will be ready for the fall harvest. Somewhere along the way there were some very flooded rivers and one lake that must be ten times the size it was the last time I drove by it a few years back.

I find I am pretty tired. I don’t want to sleep any longer than normal, or lay around the house, but I can tell by the way I feel, it is time to go home soon and do nothing for a few days. I have this feeling of physical tired, like I worked hard the day before. I also am falling asleep very quickly which is unusual for me, as it usually takes me a while to fall asleep. It sure has been a fun trip, I am glad I was able to take it.

The sights and the views have been better than ever before when I have gone up north, and of course best of all was seeing family I have not seen is a few years. It is kind of funny, I find myself not saying much, but rather just enjoying the interaction between them. I suppose that is my family link. We change as we get older, but I think we act almost the same way all our lives.

There was one funny, or so I thought incident in Kansas. I pulled on to what I thought was a side road to look at some baskets being sold by some Amish women. The road was next to a gas station, but I did not think it was being used as the entrance and exit did not directly lead to the road. I stopped more or less in the middle of the road, leaving about twenty feet on each side of the truck.

As such things go, along come a guy in an SUV, who is right in the middle of the road, stops and starts honking his horn. I look over and he signals me he wants me to move my truck out of his way. I make sweeping motions suggesting he can go around either side of me as there is plenty of room. He gestures again, and so do I. He makes some rather rude and obvious gestures towards me and I ignore him. He backs up five feet, and drives around giving me some dirty looks, as if I care. About two minutes later a semi pulls out on the road and I move the truck, I have a lot of respect for those drivers, plus I realized I was on their road to the gas station.

I had some good meals along the way, and the people were very nice with only two exceptions. If there were not a few behavior exceptions, I would wonder if I were in another reality, and out of this one. One thing that always catches my attention in the corn belt is contrast in what appears on the bathroom walls in the men’s room.

I never understood how there can be ‘Jesus saves’ scrawled on the wall in the first place, in a bathroom. What really adds contrast though is the hate slogans, usually either Nazi slogans, or other hate talk. What makes it so interesting to me is publicly the sides of the roads are filled with church signs and repent and be saved signs. yet on the bathroom walls and other places in the mens room’s are less savory thoughts and ideas being written down. I always wonder if it is repressed being given an outlet, or the true nature of a small minority of people in rural areas who feel threatened by something they can not quite define? Perhaps there is more repenting and saving going on in the corn belt than is obvious driving through, although I doubt it is different per capita than anywhere else I have been.

I have been to a a few places to eat and one mall here in the Dallas area, plus a drive around tour. It is surprising to me how neat and clean the city and streets are. It is obvious that most of the people here take a lot of pride in where they live and it is reflected in how clean everything is. I think there is a lesson here for all of us. All it takes is a second to bend down and pick up a piece of trash from the ground, and a few more seconds to throw it away.

I have been in Minnesota for five days now and it has been a lot of fun being in Minnesota with no responsibility, and nothing but time to do what I want to do. I have been lucky enough to spend time with my family, and that time is very special. We have been apart so long now that that the the stories we share are about us are years old and probably stale, but family bonds are strong, and very special. I have been lucky enough to spend time over meals, talking with Cousins, Aunts and Uncles, Children and Grand Children. These are always very special times for me. The meals and conversation bring back memories of meals and celebrations when I was a child. I hope the have the same fond memories.

I look on Lake Superior and the Duluth with new eyes since I have been away the most part of thirty years. I now truly feel like a stranger in the city, and see the ’sites’ just like the ‘tourists’ next to me are seeing them. As strange as it sounds being away from where I grew up all those years ago has given me a new appreciation of everything I left behind. I now look at all the things I did not like about growing up here with new eyes, and a new perspective. I still know I never could have spent my life here, but it is refreshing to be able to look upon the sites and people, knowing that for the first time I am seeing the positive side of life in the Duluth area. Also it is fun to show where I used to live, and the places I used to go and the things I used to do. It adds a completeness to my life in some way. I made a peace with myself the last time I was here, but this time it feels a little deeper and carries more meaning for me.

We have seen a large number of deer during our time here, both in and outside of the city limits. So many deerin fact, that it seems every new road I drive down that is even partially rural seems to have a dead deer laying in the ditch. It is too bad all that deer meat is going to waste. I am sure if there are not hungry people that would be very happy to have meat to put on the table, there are people who own dogs who would be happy to have some free dog food. I wrote a previous post about road kill deer and pet food, but I seem to be the only person around who can get excited about the idea. Not excited enough I want to move back, but excited enough it bothers me to see a Deer wasted, and the meat thrown away on top of it.

I think we live on memories, ideas, hopes and dreams. At least it seems that way these last days. I know every time I come to visit that it is a possibility that this may be the last time I will see someone, or perhaps the last time they will see me. Life has no warranty, and often little notice is given that our ride is over for this lifetime. I may be more aware of this than many people, it could be one of the things that living in many different places over the years does to you. You become more aware that forever does not exist, and no matter how much we may not want it to happen, nothing stays the same, and people change, move, or grow old.

I think it is a good thing though, I hope people can learn something from the things I write. One of my cousins was laughing while telling me he likes the stories I write here about growing up. He said it gives it him a good idea how far my memories are from the truth of what really happened. I had to admit that sometimes I may leave out some detail here and there because there are some things that should not be said. I know he was thinking that it is not what I leave out, but the selective memory I seem to have about what I include. I have been told once in a while that what I remember as being true is not what someone else remembers. I am sure my version of the facts are correct of course.

In wrapping up, I have been eating way too much, visiting different places, spending time with family, relaxing, and in general just having a good time with no rush to be anywhere or do anything. I am starting to miss being home, and my at home regimen as boring as it probably is. It is always good to know that out there at some point I will be home, and grounded back into life as it is most days, which is a good life for me.

It is relaxing to finally be in Minnesota after travelling for the third day. Day two and day three are blended together, as there was not much difference between them. The meals were good, and the hotels were very cheap because they were not boxes with chain names attached to them. We Americans are so conditioned to use a chain anything, I wonder how independents manage to make a living running their own busines. At least any business that applies itself to the tourist trade must have a difficult time competing.

I did not see a lot of flooding, but I did see a lot of wet fields that won’t be planted for the summer season, or at least planted with a normal cash crop. Coming from a city it is always refreshing to see so much farm land and so few homes. It makes me wonder how our government can function with so many different interests in our country. There are the farmers, fisherman, lumberman, miners, on and on and on. I think that is why so much pork ends up in otherwise good bills. The pork is added to get the votes so the bill can pass. The pork project is probably something some Senator or Representative needs to keep his area back home in jobs.

Lake Superior is HUGE! It always surprises just how big the Duluth and Superior harbor is. The harbor as big as it is is dwarfed by Lake Superior. We drove along the Skyline parkway in Duluth to Enger Tower. Years ago when I lived here in Duluth, Enger tower was not a big tourist spot, having more broken liquor bottles and used condoms than tourists on any given day. About the only time it was talked about was when a teenager trying to climb on the roof did not make it, or someone decided jumping from the tower was a way to end their current life on earth.

Enger Tower yesterday was a completely new experience. There are many types of flowers and shrubs in bloom, manicured flower beds, trails, picnic tables and short walking paths so no matter how many people are there, there is room for everyone. After Enger Tower I drove over one of the bridges to Superior so the kids could add another state to the states they have driven through on the way here and back. We stopped and had lunch at a Hardey’s. Hardeys’s is a burger place, and was entrenched here before the burger chains invaded. Because they make such giid burgers for a fair price, they are still around and thriving.

I enjoyed dinner at my Aunt and Uncles house, as always it was very good. After dinner and catching up and trading stories three days of driving caught up with me and bed looked like a great option. I was out voted, andany  it was off to the mall. It was late and the mall was would be closing soon, so I never made it any farther than a book store. It was a borg store, but much larger than any I have been to in New Mexico. I forgot how much passion people here in Minnesota have for reading. Five months of cold weather a year probably adds to that passion, but that is another story in itself.

I was woken in the middle of the night by the resident dog, and upon checking the outside temperature I saw it was a frosty forty-two degrees. Seeing I have experienced forty two degrees in a number of months and the fact the dog needed out, I opened the door to make sure the thermometer was correct. If it was not forty-two, it was a good imitation. The dog did his thing, I let him back inside the house, turned up the heat to a warmer sixty-five and went back to bed for a few more hours sleep.

Woke up this morning to light rain, perhaps drizzle. It has been so long since I have been anywhere where the rain last for more than twenty or so minutes, it was a pleasant change to my morning. It has been a lazy morning with the overcast weather and being tired from the trip, I am not moving very fast. I will probably drive us to the mall and maybe see the rest of the mall too.

The start of day two is a good one except it it obvious that the warm days of New Mexico are behind. I find a restaurant that has a good breakfast deal. Sitting down at the table the cool breeze from the air conditioner is a little to cool for me. About ten minutes later, I ask if I can move to another location, one that does not seem to be under the refrigerator door. The waitress taking care of us tells me that is fine with her. It seems that refrigerated air is big at this place, and there is no place that is not cold to me, so I settle into the table I am at.

The weather did not look that good and looks were not deceiving. About forty minutes into the morning drive it started raining and did not stop for over three hours. At some points I was down to forty miles and hour, because the rain was so hard it was difficult to see the road. The rain stopped almost as fast as it started but the sky remained overcast for a big part of the day. The rest of the dirve was pretty uneventful, and I ended the days drive in some little town on mid Iowa after swerving to miss what was left of deer on the highway. Deer and vehicles travelling at high speeds do not mix well.

I enjoy watching the lanscape and the slowly change from sand, rock, and cactus to rich soft earth, rolling hills, fields of wheat and corn. When travelling from the southern end of the US north the people also change. The Hispanic and Indian peoples become fewer and fewer and the remaining people become taller. Once the halfway point is crossed some women are as tall or taller the the average male in New Mexico.

The food also changes, New Mexican cooking now becomes something that looks like Mexican cooking, but tastes like something not quite Mexican cooking. Not that it is bad, just different. The staple foods become more English looking in nature, spiced with an occasional dish from Germany, Poland, or a dish from the Nordic countries. I am guessing because the weather is colder in the winter and more humid, Mexican cooking is not as good a choice for meals as what is served. I know I am going to start wanting hot food and not be able to find it.

Being in the center of Iowa the damage from the flooding is not as apparent as it is on CNN, but there are still signs of too much rain. Some of the fields are soggy and lay barren, other fields have wide shallow ponds in them that will eventually become muddy spots. I do not think we in the rest of the country will notice the effects of the flooding until this fall, but even from a roadside tour in the middle of the state it is obvious the harvest will not be what it normally is. We won’t notice the shortage too much because the increased cost will probably be blended with increasing gas prices, but third world countries will certainly notice there is less food to go around.

I always appreciate just how big our country is when I travel. Even though most of us are homoginized by chain stores, we all have a unique perspective on what we need for our country depending on where we live. I live in a large city in the south and my views are a lot different than a farmer living two miles from his neighbor in the midwest. I am sure their views are split up again depending on what they are growing and what price the crop is bringing. On the coastal cities the views are flavored by the ocean industries. Somehow we manage to pass laws and do things that either make us all unhappy together or marginally satisfied.

Lunch and dinner were prety uneventful, but filling. I spent the night in one non-descript hotel that had seen it best days in the sixties. The room was spotless and the price was right. Once the lights are out, I sleep as well as I would in a three hundred dollar a night suite. In the morning, the showers are always hot and and the towels soft and clean. I didn not see a continental breakfast, but for the price difference I can live without it.

Day two ended on a tired note. After the second day of driving, I am tired but not sleepy. It is times like these I really appreciate long haul truck drivers. I have had a few friends who used to drive for a living and said they loved it. I find the thought of knowing how many minutes to a destination hundreds of miles away from whatever bush is in view a little on the boring side. To each his own, although I always have a fondess for truck drivers, as they are the lifeline of our country.

I was on the road today, travelling from Albuquerque en-route to Minnesota. I am on a vacation of sorts, and going to Minnesota to visit family. The weather was good today and the drive has been enjoyable. There are four of us going, and one of us is a four year old. I find the idea of long trip, four year old in a car, and enjoyable in one thought very interesting. I had some concerns that having a four year old strapped into a car seat in a car, travelling down the highway for many hours was not going to be one of the best of times.

Fortunately as I said today has been very enjoyable. We stopped for a lunch of sorts in a small town, Hooker, Kansas. They have a very pretty park with picnic tables, shrubbery, and trees. We found one table bathed in shade. Lunch was nothing special, just some lunch meat, cheese, and bread, and a glass of water. But the little park was comfortable, perfect for a travellers lunch, and a few minutes of sitting still. I have enjoyed many little parks in many towns, but Hooker has an especially nice park, and they must be very proud of it.

We are spending the night in Pratt Kansas, as Pratt is where we ended up when everyone was getting both hungry and tired. After eating, a shower, and a cup of coffee, I wanted to go out for a walk. Pratt being a small town has not invested a lot of money in side walks. At least on the Highway 54 portion of town, but never the less, there was grass going freely along the road, and it has been a long time since I have had the luxury of actually walking more than a few feet on a thick carpet of soft grass.

I walked to the local Walmart, which was my third trip of the evening…. Such is life on the road. When you stop for the first night, you discover those things that did not get packed which are needed. Of course it would be much to easy to discover them all at once. It is more exciting when you are tired and just want to relax for a bit. So I decided to walk to the Walmart, as I needed some exercise after sitting in a truck all day, and the evening weather was pleasant.

I walked back to the room from Walmart, dropped off the final purchases, and walked the other direction for about a half mile. I came across an interesting memorial park alongside the road. It had nine flags in a row, and a tenth flag facing the nine. There was also a small replica of the Statue Of Liberty, placed there by a Boy Scout Troop many years ago, and a park bench dedicated to a couple, which provided a nice spot to sit and enjoy the quiet for a few minutes.

A little farther away from the street was a fountain splashing away. I walked over to the fountain planning on sitting down and watching and listening to the splashing, but there was no bench. So I stood there in the dark for a few minutes and listened to the water hitting the cobble stone bricks. I walked back along the row of flags, and headed back down to the room for the night.

In the mean time, the weather was changing quite quickly. It had been windy all day with clear skies, but when I looked up, most of the sky was black and there were rumbles of thunder some miles away. It is now about three hours later and the storm never made it here, at least not yet. I hope a storm of some type arrives tonight as it has been a long time since I have lain in bed and listened to a thunder storm. I find it enjoyable, perhaps others do not.

It is back on the road in the morning at a yet undetermined time. I know we can not make it to Minnesota tomorrow, so there is no need to be on the road at the crack of dawn. Plus because there are four of us, and not just myself, getting started in the morning takes a little longer than if it were just myself. It is now about eleven at night and I am starting to feel the weight of the day, so it is a good time to say goodnight.

Inside our minds there is an I Need part of us. This part of our mind has no function in our make up other than to think of things that we Need. Some of them are passing fantasy such as being so wealthy we never have to work or want for anything again. Other I Need’s are something we fleetingly think about, or see as we are out and about.

There is a built in mechanism that balances the I Need part of us. It lives in a more real surrounding, and helps us to control our I Need part of us. I Need identifies something that it knows we can not live without at that moment and those thoughts about it flood our mind.

The mechanism that helps control our I Need is what I think of as Let’s Be Real. Let’s Be Real reminds us that we are sitting in class, doing our job which requires our attention at the moment, or lets our mind wander into possible reasons why we really do not need whatever it is I Need has thought up for us. Let’s Be Real is also a good tool to have in our make up. Let’s Be Real shows us exactly what we we need to be doing or will have to to achieve whatever it is I Need has set us to thinking about.

For example, I need spots a nice piece of jewelry, or a nice car and takes over our thought process. Let’s Be Real jumps in and shows us if we can or can not have our I need filled that moment, or shows us what changes we need to make in our life to have that jewelry or nice car. Usually we listen to both I Need and Let’s Be Real all day long as thoughts run through our minds and counter thoughts or counter possibilities follow shortly. Normally we are not even aware these things are going on until someone points it out to us, such as right now.

At moments however Let’s Be Real can cause us as many problems as I Need does. Because they live as a part of us and float into and out of our thoughts I Need and Let’s Be Real do not have a complete understanding of our real life situation. For example, I Need tells us we need something. We know immediately that what ever it is we need is well out of our current economic ability. Let’s Be Real pauses for a moment and then lets us know that all we need to do to afford it is quit eating, then we will have money for the item that I Need has identified.

We recognize immediately that not eating is not a reasonable choice, and whatever I Need has decided we can not live without floats into the backwaters of our thoughts. But when Let’s Be Real makes different choices we are sometimes fooled into thinking they are very reasonable and we can make those changes to satisfy I Need.

Car salesmen if they are good at their jobs make use of this defect of ours, so do high pressure electronics, cell phones sellers, and purveyors of other common items. Let’s Be Real tells us that if we save some on our funny money, use a little less water and electricity, and drink less soda that we will have enough money to afford whatever has caught our attention.

This is true. If we do those things we should have enough money to afford whatever I Need has planted in our thoughts as something we can not live without. Where we find ourselves in trouble is after a few days of sacrificing to be able to afford what we now own, I Need wants those needs we dropped to afford our newest need filled. So we rationalize, well maybe one soda won’t hurt. Maybe a longer shower or bath today won’t make that much difference. Soon we find ourselves right back where we were, only we have another expense squeezing our stretched budget. Of course during this time I Need starts looking for something new we can not live without.

I spent a week with two of the Grandkids this week. I am on vacation, so I had nothing but time to spend with them. It was a great week, lots of fun! The oldest just discovered fishing this year and is taking it very seriously. The younger one also went with us fishing, and when bored found ways to keep entertained. It worked out very well for all three of us.

On to the fishing part…if you have not interest in fishing this post is not for you. If you enjoy fishing read on. The oldest had a fishing outfit, but it was geared more towards big bass which is not a fish he is likely to be fishing for in the local fish ponds where he lives. They are stocked with trout in the winter and catfish over the summer.

So what was there to do but find him a nice light weight trout spinning rod and reel. Almost fifty dollars later, he had a spinning outfit I would not mind owning myself. There is no close by trout fishing for him here, so he had to wait until he went back home to really try it out. It will be a while before he appreciates what he now owns though, as he doesn’t have much to compare his new outfit with.

Because there are no trout close by here, and fishing is generally spotty at best anywhere I could reasonably take kids to, I decided I would fall back on an old standby fish. I love to fish, it doesn’t matter what the species as long as it is catchable. I wanted both of them to catch the biggest fish of their summer, so I took them fishing for Carp.

If you have never fished for Carp, think of smart Bass with extra low gears. They are not dazzling top water fighting fish, but they are true powerhouses and fight until they are exhausted. You can catch them on almost anything, though they are mostly vegetarian. Canned corn is what I used this week as it is cheap, easy to bait with, and works well with kids.

Everything was set the first day out, except the fish. Almost four hours of fishing and it was Carp one (won?), and us zero. The second day of fishing was almost a repeat of day one except there were a few bites that did not get hooked or landed.

Day three looked like it was going to be a no fish week when the oldest had a bite. I coached him along and he landed about an eight pound Carp! He was one happy fisherman! I thought I was going to have to find some rope and tie him to something to keep him from floating away he was so bubbly and excited!

I went out for day four today, by myself unfortunately, as the kids have gone back home. I netted four Carp, and hooked six total. My biggest was about fifteen pounds. Once I hooked it and realized it was a HUGE Carp, I checked the time. Almost seven minutes later I had one big Carp halfway in my net. It was just too big to fit into the net I use! I imagine I brought in between thirty and forty pounds of fish today and it was a blast!

There were two men who showed up right after I started fishing today. They were fishing brush and other pockets for Bass. They had each been fishing a few hours, and were still waiting to catch one Bass big enough to keep. One of the men arrived at the spot I had moved to later in the day, after five hours of fishing he was still looking for an elusive Bass dinner. I guess it is fun to fish all day for Bass, but Carp are a whole lot more fun and not as hard to find.

They took a tole on my rods though. Not a big deal as they were inexpensive rods to start with. Two rods have bit the dust this week. One Carp pulled the reel out of the reel seat, and a second Carp snapped a guide eye. It had been a while since I fished for anything but trout, and I forgot what pure horsepower does to old fishing gear.

So it was a great week, and a great time for the three of us fishing. If you have never fished for Carp, you might want to give it a try. They are smart, and fight like crazy, and are present in almost every body of water around where you live. A cheap but sturdy rod and reel, a can of whole kernel corn, hooks and sinkers, and you are all set. Plus a license if you need on where you live. You can probably fish all summer for less than dinner and a movie on a friday night.

Self Respect and Self Esteem always seem to be something that someone else we know has a lot of, but when we take inventory of us, we seem to come up short. We seem to have little self respect for ourself, and unfortunately that means we have no self esteem either. There is nothing wrong with loving yourself. If you believe there is you need to look deep inside of yourself and find out why you believe this to be true, because outside influences wrongly put this idea in your mind.

There are so many influences on us growing up as children that having self respect and self esteem in one area of our lives seems to be something others have, but we can not find them in us. We think about us and we find we are too this, and too that. We think we are never perfect, or even okay. It is time to change this thinking and put some correct thinking in its place.

I think self respect and self esteem have everything to do with how much, or in many cases how little we love ourselves. Loving ourselves does not imply that we idolize ourselves and can not see past our reflection in the mirror we can’t put down. It does mean that we appreciate and focus on our strong points, whatever they me be, and we also accept our what we see as our weaknesses.

Weakness in our life mean we are human just like everyone else. Loving ourself should be a reflection where we think as much of us as we think of other people. Self love leads to self respect and self esteem, and also correctly loving others. This is because we are giving ourselves permission to see those things in us, that make us who we are. Self love means we allow ourselves to care about ourselves, and once we care about ourselves we care about others by default.

Once we give ourself permission to really look inside ourself and discover what makes us who we are and what makes us unique, we start to see things that we may have never noticed before. We notice that we have gifts that others do and do not have. We notice apply our gifts at times and in places where they are most useful. We may if we allow ourself to be open enough to our world to discover that others appreciate and value us for who we are and what we do. But we have to allow these things for them to happen.

I have no doubt each of know someone who we admire and look up to who has just as many or more faults than we do. The difference between them and each of us, is those people have a better video running in their heads of themselves, and they place themselves in situations that use their strengths more often than we do.

Take some quiet time and think of all the good you do and find more places to put those gifts to use. The difference between you and someone you admire is the person you admire finds places to use their gifts and you wait for the right time.

Also take a few minutes to think about how unique you are. While you are exploring yourself tell yourself you love you. It may feel silly at first, but keep at it daily. The most successful people you know tell themselves daily how much they love themselves at least once a day, and there is no reason why you should not tell yourself you love you too. Once loving yourself becomes a habit, self respect and self esteem will follow shortly.