Bear Sighting

I discovered the source of the extremely windy conditions  (steady 20-25 mph winds) the past two days. It wasn’t a cold front, or a warm front. It was personally delivered from the windy state of Oklahoma by my good friend “Bear”. He came to visit for a couple of days and we planned to go fishing — before we realized the winds of the Plains had followed him here.

It’s a typical Bear deal…For the past 35 years or so, my wife and I have spent a long weekend each year somewhere in the woods or on a lake with him and his wife. In the early years, it, it was us and all our kids. Now it is just us. We’ve stayed in beautiful cabins in the mountains of Arkansas, lean-to’s in Okahoma (including one travel trailer that was billed as a “cabin with a lake view” that required binoculars to see the lake) and so on and so on. It’s always a blast. We usually rent a boat, hire a guide, go fishing by ourselves, tour a winery (I’m Baptist, so I have to go out of state for that), and eat at all kinds of great places that nobody has ever heard of. We’ve caught rainbow trout on the White River, brown trout on the Red River, stripers on Lake Texoma, largemouth bass on Lake Cooper….35 years worth of fishing stories. And only Bear would plan a striper fishing trip at “Catfish Bay” (photographic evidence to the right).

Then, three years ago, the trips stopped when we built our house on the lake. Well, kind of. They have become “visits” instead of trips. The Bear sightings are now on Lake D’Arbonne. The three-day outings have turned into more like 4-5 days. The eating out has become me cooking. And the guide, well, that’s me, too.  Like this week. Bear didn’t bring any food. He didn’t bring any fishing gear. He just brought the wind. He reminds me though, as my tax advisor, that I am on a fixed income and don’t need to be taking expensive trips any more. Oh. So he comes to see me.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to do anything but fish off the dock and it’s just too early for that.  We caught a couple of small ones – but they were so small neither of us would pose for a picture with them. We still had fun and not going out in the boat eliminated the need for making up excuses about why they didn’t bite. All kidding aside (because Lady Bear works for a lawyer), sharing the outdoors and adventures with friends and family just multiplies the fun and fellowship. Even if it does appear that I’m missing out on the “trip” part these days.