refuge

no fishing today. wind was blowing too much to go out when the old man of the sea got up this morning to check things out so he rolled back into the bed and we snored our way to 7:30 a.m. got up and enjoyed a nice leisurely morning and then headed out to the beach with some old fish heads to run some crab lines. many thanks to my wonderful arkansas girl steph who revived the beach crabbing activity. what a shame. i just don't remember taking the kids crabbing very much on the beach when they were young, what with chuck being such the die-hard fisherman, and due to the fact that we always had the big boat to go out to the bay or offshore. after spending the morning in the hot hot sun hunting down specks, etc., alls we ever had the energy for was to pretty much lounge around for the rest of the day. course when the kids were really young and before they could go out in the boat i usually just hung around the camp with them and played on the beach. sometimes some memories just get a little fuzzy.....as far as i can remember charlieloupee has always been the crabber of the family:) his pop was always content with buying our crabs from people on the island...he always had his sources. anyway, today we caught enough to eat for lunch and put some in the fridge for later and so it was a good morning....cloudy and not too hot. two little guys from down the beach came and begged for a crab and so we gave them each a small one. don't really want to think about the outcome of that one. so a couple more of my favorite things about my refuge:

sitting in my chair out on the deck in the mornings, cup of coffee in my hand, bible with it's requisite highlighter in my lap. i could sit out there for hours like that. my favorite thing to do just about anywhere, but here is always special because i have the ocean breeze in my face, the beautiful expanse of blue above and the sound of the waves somewhere in the background....

sitting in my chair out on the deck in the late afternoon, wineglass in hand, a good book on my lap. nothin' like some good old pino grigio with yur recreational reading is what i always say. course i nearly always end up havin a little power nap to top it off:)

heading out of the marina at 6am sitting in my spot on the padded seat on top of the baitwell just in front of the steering well in the boat. lovelovelove the water in the bay at that time of morning....silky smooth with a mirror finish. sunrise on the way, but not yet. gliding over that water is heaven with the cool quiet morning air rushing onto my face. just me and the old man...he knows where he wants to go...at least that's how it always seems. taking our time moving from fishing hole to fishing hole. i can take a break when i fancy it. pull out a little recreational reading and sit in the swivel chair, prop up my feet on the trolling motor and r e l a x while he does his thing. sitting on the back of the boat, shoes off, dabbling my feet in the water while casting away lazily is always fun....but i can definitely only pull that off when the fish are not biting very well. definitely. well that's about the closest thing to perfect peace i can find in this earthly realm. sooo good for the soul. ooops times' up....maybe the wind will be calm in the morning.....:)