In the interests of full disclosure, which seems to be all the rage, I should let you know that I have by no means exhausted my supply of fishing postcards. The subject was a good seller, and cartoonists sought (though they failed at least as often as fishermen) to come up with a new angle on angling. So there are plenty more postcards in the sea, if you can untangle my metaphor. Thank you: watch out for the hook. And my own inventory has hardly any of that wildly popular rppc phenomenon, where a photographically altered fish was rearing its head in the pond or resting on the back of a truck. And then there are the “Here’s my catch” rppc, with…but why spoil the sport for you. You can go in quest of others.
But we have run the gamut of emotions in the world of fishing, from the big one that got away to the little one that was all we had to show for our efforts. Some viewers may have wondered, through it all, “Well, what’s the point? Why not just go BUY a fish at the market?”
So we will sum up by considering Fishing Fever, as discussed above. There are people for whom fishing is simply the apex of existence, a thing to be relished while doing it, and to be dreamed of when not. It is their concept of Nirvana.
For those who live in a part of the world where fishing is seasonal, the off season is a time of anticipation. Training may start in the dead of winter.
And the whole household is turned over to an indulgence of the passion for fishing.
When fishing is in season, any excuse to get out there on the lake or river will do, and all other interests must take second place.
And once out on a fishing trip, nothing must be allowed to break in on one’s enjoyment of the sport.
Not even, as examined in these two cards, if one’s pipe goes out.
Patience is not always considered a virtue,
But hope is a constant.
N ow, of course, some people fish as a form of competition. Not for them the quiet contemplation or the pitting of human wits against the forces of nature. They’re in it for the recognition of their loved ones.
Which is sometimes hard to get.
But the possibility is always there, that one may achieve a place in the memories of fishermen yet to come.
Those of us on the outside cannot really understand those who pursue the eternal fish. Bur, as noted, for some people, fishing is real life, and anything else is superfluous. In the pursuit of happiness, they have found a pursuit which is happiness, and I can’t knock that.
And I got through this whole column without mentioning that some people are hooked on it.
Blogsy Babbles 