My birthday

This morning I woke up and decided I was not going to the pool on my birthday. Then I had to figure out what I was going to do. 

I knew later in the day that I had planned a fishing trip out to Strawberry Reservoir 

with my friend Aaron he had asked his boss if he could get off work early at the noon hour so that he could drive up with me to go fishing for the day 

his boss told him yes, but you’ll have to work tomorrow also which was a Friday

So while he was working his half day, I decided to go to the store

As I was leaving the store, I was parked at a stop sign a three-way stop sign

A white car was going straight through the intersection. It’s been stuck for a while waiting for the traffic to clear and as it began to go. Another car came out of nowhere cause I was watching too, and slammed on his brakes, put on his horn.And the anger that came out of this guy instantly 

 was horrible

And the white car kept going turned in the bank, and this other driver that came out of nowhere

Threw up his arms like why are you ignoring me and followed them into the bank. 

With just horrid anger all over his face

So I decided, then I was going to go protect the original car that was in the right to go forward

I saw a huge bullying moment coming up and I wanted to dissolve it as soon as I could… if I needed to

The super angry driver went up and pulled right next to the white car

And just started yelling, just started yelling at this car that was ahead of me

I pulled up next to him and just waited

The good thing is there was two people in the car that went Forward into the bank and they just stayed in their car the whole time

Which I am very grateful for because that could’ve escalated fast

And then, as the driver was pulling away, the angry driver, the other vehicle that had pulled into the bank in the beginning, took a picture of his license plate on his vehicle, which was very smart

And then I asked if they were OK

They said they were, and then I drove off and they went into the bank

I’m so grateful nothing happened, other than a bunch of yelling, but I’m also grateful I was there to help those that were being bullied if it escalated to that point…

It was sad how fast that other car that was speeding…….

obviously cause I don’t know where it came from…….

 how fast his anger exploded !

I have seen that many times with many people

How fast anger just comes into them and then explodes out of nowhere. It’s kind of scary actually.

As I was driving home

I prayed for the couple that went into the bank, and I prayed for the guy that was super angry

Then, To help me calm down from the situation

I drove over to my sister’s house and played with the dogs and the chickens

 For about an hour 

I bought some hotdogs that I freeze 

I feed them to the dogs as little snacks, but the funny part is is the chickens like them more than the dogs do

I’ll have to take pictures to show you

But these chickens love peanut butter

It as if it’s their cat nip, they just go crazy over it

And they also go crazy over frozen hotdogs

So every time I go over there

I let the chickens out, and I let the dogs out at the same time

So the dogs are running back-and-forth with the two balls that were throwing back-and-forth

And the chickens are running around, eating all the grass and bugs and everything else

At the end of our Play session With the dogs, or eating With the chickens

I then go grab four frozen hotdogs

I feed the dogs first

And then I have to put on gloves because the chickens peck my fingers really bad

But I hold the hot dogs out and the chickens go crazy over it and you have to wear gloves cause they will peck your fingers

So anyway, I get done playing with the dogs and the chickens

And I loaded up A single kayak

Packed all the groceries and everything else…….fishing poles, lifejackets, and fishing supplies that we are going to need out on the water

Aaron then comes over and we go put in the second kayak into my vehicle and the reason I didn’t do it the first time is once it’s in the middle of my van

I can’t see out of the right side mirror and so that’s why I need Aaron there with me to help me guide me in traffic

We’ve done it this way several times it works out great 

he is very diligent in looking and paying attention 

if I can get over or if it’s safe or whatever and I trust him 100%

We stoped by a gas station and filled up the car with gas

And we just talk back-and-forth about life and everything going on

And on the way up, my foot started to cramp up, and I mentioned this

And during the same time, he said that he had a lot of anxiety, and he was really stressed

 as we were driving up

I said do you want me to pull over before we get there…….

 so we can both relax 

and he said 

no…….

let’s just keep going…….

let’s go…….

And so we made it up there and right when we parked and got out, it was pretty windy and pretty choppy weather

And as we got out of the car, my cramping in my left leg went away

And soon as he got out on the water, all his anxiety went away.

 It was really neat how both our issues went  away 

as soon as we entered  strawberry reservoir

For about 2 hours it was super choppy out in the water, and we would paddle out for around 10 minutes

And then the wind had already pushed us back to the shore.

 so we decided we’re gonna go out further this time and watch how much the wind blows us back towards the shore

As we were going out, I was praying 

If it was God‘s will that the wind would cease and be more calm so that it would be easier for us to fish

And be able to row easier…….

A way’s out we saw some trees sticking out of the water and last year we did not notice this

And then over to the left, there was a cut out in the mountain that didn’t look like it was there last year either

And we think that the water had raised so much higher this year that the cut in the mountain was an old road

But we weren’t sure what was going on with the trees, so we paddled for a good hour maybe to get to the other side of the Reservoir to where the trees were coming up out of the water 

we were against wind the whole time

And as we got over there to the trees,

 the wind almost died it was great

And we just sat over there with the trees sticking out of the water, and what happened is the water had raised up so high that it had flooded this land 

it used to be a crescent, moon type land structure

And now it had just gone straight out to the reservoir and that’s why those trees are there

We still had a little bit of wind, but not much at all, and we just sat there in the trees and talked for a while, and we ever so slowly started moving back very slowly towards the shore with the wind

And with the current of the water, it was weird, 

 because I was being pushed towards the land, and he was being pushed towards that cut out in the mountain

But we started right next to each other

For about three hours, all we did is just paddled and talked and got pushed around by the wind

And then around 6 o’clock I caught the first fish

I took some pictures of it

Aaron then said that fish is wider around then your arm

So when I looked at the picture later, he was absolutely right it was a fat long fish

If I can, I will save the life of every fish I catch and let the fish go…….

However, if the fish doesn’t make it after I catch them…

I will try to revive the fish as long as I can…….

And then, if the fish does not survive, I will take it home

I will take them home to people that want them

And there were a few people that wanted fish

But I only do it if the fish doesn’t survive

Today all the fish survived, which was great…….

so nobody got any fish…

About 7:30 PM

This is when the fishing started it was Amazing!!!

As I was floating around, I noticed a bunch of ladybugs on top of the water

And I wasn’t catching any fish and neither was Aaron

So I decided

I was gonna catch as many ladybugs and put them on my boat so that they wouldn’t be eaten by fish

I would use my paddle…….

 I would use my hands…….

 and I had like eight of the lady bugs crawling all over my boat and me

And I saved one particular one.

 It had no spots on it, but it was the biggest ladybug I have ever seen.

And this lady bug stayed with me for the rest of the evening for like two hours

 it was awesome all the other ones flew off, but this lady bug stayed with me the whole night

I also took pictures of it and the size difference between a regular size one and this one

After I had found all the ladybugs in that area.

I put on a gold spinner, 

 and I caught a fish.

 It was small compared to the other one but I caught a fish and I was excited and I said Aaron get over here.

I let the fish go 

and as he was paddling over 

i casted again

and I immediately

Caught another fish

 on the first cast after I just got another one

And he couldn’t believe it 

because we were like four hours dead without catching anything

So he parked his kayak right next to me 

casted out and he caught a fish

And this time the wind was pushing us towards the cut in the mountain

So every 20 minutes 

we would go back towards the vehicle where we were parked, 

and then just let the wind push us back towards the cut the mountain

I was on a really good streak of fishing and catching

He had probably Caught five or six fish for the whole evening

And I was on fire for evening I probably got 20 fish after that session

It was really fun 

I have never caught that many trout in a row

I had a streak of casting, catching a fish, letting it go, and then casting again…….

I had eight in a row

We then went back to shore as the evening was coming in

My friend Aaron, has this fear 

which I find very funny

But to him, it’s a fear, and I have to respect it

He as of last year had never seen a crawdad … crawfish

And so last year, when I brought him up here, he nicknamed them waterbugs

And he would not touch them for the life of him 

He wanted nothing to do with the waterbugs……..

I explained to him that all you had to do…

is put a little piece of meat on the end of a Hook…

drop it in front of the waterbug…….

and it will grab onto it. 

You can then pull it out of the water

 and put it in your boat…….

He did not believe me. 

He said those things are scary !

 I want nothing to do with them !

And so I went out on my kayak and put a piece of meat on my hook…….

I was about in 3 feet of water

dropped it down and within three seconds…

I pulled it back up and put it in my boat…….

He was fascinated by this…….

 so he went and got his pole…….

and he did the same thing…….

while the sun was setting…….

we just caught waterbugs 

or crawdads 

if you want Use the actual term

It was really fun to watch him…….

Watch the kid come out of him…….

He was shouting with joy and excitement…….

and fear after each one he caught…….

 I saw him acting as a young child again

With this New experience

He was participating in…….

What kind of experiences do I have?

And how can I have that child like love or understanding, fascination come out like I used to have…

I have seen people be fascinated by fountains or lakes or rivers

All my life…….

I have just taken advantage of this beautiful world

because it’s all around me

Because I live in this amazing valley, 

I have taken vantage of it all my life…

I need to go back out and experience life as a child would…

I need to re-experience all the wonders and joys of this world as a child, would…

But with the wisdom of an adult…….

With fascination and respect and love and care for what God gave me……..

I need to get out of the house and quit being sucked in by the world

And get out an experience what God gave me…….

nature, family and love…

And quit watching other people have fun and do stuff on TV

And experience it for myself all over again

With a new light of understanding

I have been sucked into TV and movies and video games and when I used to go home that’s all I did

Every once in a while, I would have chores or somebody would want to go do something, but I would drown myself in my house

With this new energy that God gave me…

I’m gonna go out more and I’m gonna experience world, nature and everything beautiful about it…

hopefully with a new love and a new understanding…….

We had an amazing day today…

On this amazing day…

that My Heavenly Father decided 

for me to come into this world 48 years ago.

Thank you Heavenly Father…

for this amazing day that you gave us today…….

::David::

6-20-24

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