Category: fun

Limping and Fishing

If this is true, then I am excessively educated! For almost half a year now, I have been plagued by either illness or injury. It kicked off with bronchitis right around Halloween, a hacking cough that persisted through Thanksgiving, a fun bout of flu over Christmas that I shared with my poor husband, and then a series of endless, odd injuries that have kept me hobbling, limping, and wincing.

Most recently, a clumsy accident left my knee swollen and stiff, and walking has been nearly impossible. I have steady relationships with ice packs and pain relievers, and a compression knee brace is my newest fashion accessory.

This past weekend, though, I felt healed up enough to venture outside with my husband. Yesterday was a beautiful day, and we decided to head out to the lake. Although he loves fishing, I somehow have never tried it, so he set up my new fishing pole and gave me my first lesson.

I admit, I did not expect to like it very much. Toss some bait into the water, then just stand there baking in the sun, sweating, waiting to see if a fish comes along…I didn’t see the point. But after I got the hang of casting my line, I can see how it is actually relaxing: the whir of the fishing line at it feeds out, the soft splash of the bait, then watching the rhythmic motion of the water as you reel the line back in, all the while surrounded by gently waving water, reflecting the puffy clouds and gorgeous blue sky.

I glanced over at my husband as he cast his line, and I could plainly see how much he enjoys fishing. He patiently showed me everything he was doing, talked about bass and bait fish and different kinds of fishing, moving his line easily through the water like he was steering it, and I could tell he was in his element. He was happy.

The first time that I tossed out my line, and it actually sailed out freely, smoothly, like maybe I knew what I was doing, I excitedly turned to see if he had seen it. He was smiling over his shoulder, reeling in his own line but keeping an eye on me, too.

He joked about me having a talent for getting the fishing line in a tangle, but he showed me (more than once…okay, a lot) how to free the line and get back to business. I think he really enjoyed watching me learn a hobby he has loved for years. He kept tentatively asking if I was done and wanted to leave, and he seemed so happy when I would say no, I wasn’t ready to go yet. I wanted to cast again.

I’m not sure why it took us so long to go fishing together. I’m just very glad we did.

Halloween Night

I adore Halloween. I loved the flimsy, plastic costumes and stuffy masks as a kid in the 70s, the parade at school to show off our costumes, then trick-or-treating with my brothers around our neighborhood. As an adult, Halloween still holds so much magic and imagination and excitement.

My husband loves Halloween too. I decorate the inside of the house, but I let him take over the yard. We collect more characters and props and additions each year, and soon we will need a separate shed just for Halloween decorations! Our front yard is transformed into a cemetery, with skeleton pallbearers, zombies bursting from the ground, and even playful skeleton dogs and puppies, with bony spiders dropping from tree branches.

People driving by stop to take a closer look, and I have lost count of how many people have told us they love our Halloween decorations. It’s a lot of work, and my husband puts a lot of thought and time into it. Every year, it turns out magnificent.

I can’t wait to get home this evening to celebrate our favorite holiday together. My husband always saves the grand finale of decorations for Halloween night, and then we wait for brave trick-or-treaters to make their way through the tombstones to the front porch, lit by an eerily flickering lamp. Once the kids have all gone with their candy, we can focus on the best part of the night: each other.

Happy Halloween!

It’s Fall, Damnit!

I feel like I just pulled out the boxes of fall decor for September 1st, and now I have already boxed all of that back up and started tugging out the many, many boxes of Halloween decorations!

Every year, I tell myself I have more than enough fall and Halloween decorations. And every year, I buy more, anyway.

The inside of the house is decked out with ghosts, spiders, skulls, and jack-o-lanterns, but the show everyone is waiting for hasn’t started yet. My husband takes over for the outdoor display, and I turn the reins over to him. He’s been kicking around and mulling ideas for months now, and he has collected yet a few more items for the yard.

We have actually had neighbors come by in years past and ask when he is going to decorate, and cars have stopped so people can get a closer look once he has everything set up. He gets excited to show me something new, or when he changes something and wants someone to see it right away. It makes me smile to watch him get so into it.

I can’t believe it’s October already. Around here, the transition to fall just means the temps aren’t quite reaching 100 anymore, hovering around 85. I can’t wait for the first cool, breezy days. I can’t help wanting to shop for sweaters and sweatshirts, even if it’s still hot outside! It’s fall, damnit. Time for the weather to catch up.

Rain

Every gardener loves a rainy day, especially during the steamy, roasting summer, when the plants really need that drink (and we really need that break from lugging the watering can and hose all over the yard in the baking sun). This weekend, my husband and I still spent a little time in the yard, but since the rain was on and off steadily both days, we got chased inside.

I was glad. I love working in the yard with my husband, but the break from manual labor was wonderful. (Not being sweaty and coated with dirt was a welcome change of pace as well!)

I love being with him. I don’t even care what we’re doing. At one point, we were kicked back on the couch, both of us reading, and I felt so content and peaceful, just knowing he was nearby.

We have date night every Saturday, and we went out to dinner. We got caught in heavy rain on the way to the restaurant, and he had broken his umbrella earlier and forgot to put a new one in the truck, so we were dripping when we sat down. Well, he was, much more so than me, since he dropped me off at the front before parking, but I still had to sprint through the courtyard to the covered entrance of the restaurant. We were laughing, plucking at our wet clothes, damp hair. Nothing that fresh baked bread, Italian food, and laughing at our own outrageously hilarious jokes (ahem) couldn’t fix!

Last night, we stayed up much too late. He was stretched out with his head in my lap, and he kept saying we should head to bed, but then he didn’t get up. I asked him why he hadn’t gotten up yet, and he said, “I’m not ready for the weekend to end yet.”

Fair enough. We stayed up until we could barely hold our eyes open, like defiant little kids fighting sleep. When we admitted defeat and finally went to bed, I fell asleep practically before I even pulled the covers up.

This morning, heading off in our different directions for work, I missed him before I even left the house. There’s only one thing to do, then: start planning our next date night…and buy an umbrella!

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