Working for the Weekend, Not Through the Weekend
Our cove as looking from the lake's main channel
You know the old song, “Working for the Weekend”? Operative word is for, not through.
I have never been the one to answer the call of housework when there is something else I could be doing, and this past weekend was no exception.
On Saturday, we did have to go and do grocery and bank errands early in the morning, but we got sidetracked as well visiting a couple of antique stores and pawn shops. We rarely buy anything, as we didn’t on Saturday, but I still like to go “junking.”
On Sunday, we had a zillion things we could have been doing around the house – spring cleaning, finishing the clothes rotation, laundry, yard work, installing the window air unit…the list goes on.
Dale's first fish 2013
Dale said, “There’s so much I need to be doing, but this is sure fun.”
Yes, it was. We both caught fish and, more importantly, caught a little peace. When there’s a fog rolling over the lake and surrounding mountains, and there’s nothing to hear but the crickets, quail and whippoorwills, you cannot help but find your zen.
When we got home in the early afternoon, I did start and finish three loads of laundry, but the only thing I was regretting not getting done earlier was putting in the window air unit. By the time Dale got that in and we got the house cooled down, I was seriously having some major hot flashes.
But I survived, and the chores can all wait. Our house is so small, we can work together and clean it one night after work this week in an hour or less.
More importantly, we made some more memories instead of doing work. That’s what Living Large is all about.
We have some plans for the Memorial Day weekend, a mixture of chores and fun, how about you?
Well, I don’t fish, our little house is in the desert but we plan to go up and fix the roof and enjoy the cool evenings with a mug of coffee and our dogs. Time is getting closer for our permanent move up there and our fun time is planning the addition we’re getting ready to put up and what furniture and stuff we will take with us. We’re selling our rental house, so we’ll be able to really get serious about our move with NO FINANCING! Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone!
Excellent, Carol! That’s the way to go, with no financing. You enjoy your weekend as well.
DH watched the same fish go from kid to kid. The water was clear and he could see it. I felt so sad for that little fish.
I don’t have a problem w/fishing. My father was an avid fisherman who was also a research scientist specialising in fish and other forms of aquatic life. Wrote many papers on it. I just don’t see the point in toying with fish – or anything else for that matter. I guess I was just kind of surprised after you wrote about your dietary changes and why you decided to give up meat and your obvious love of animals.
I personally eat meat and fish because I realise that we all have to kill to survive, whether we want to acknowledge it or not.
I still wonder whether the fish enjoy this educational experience?
>>>I personally eat meat and fish because I realise that we all have to kill to survive, whether we want to acknowledge it or not.<<< Actually, that is not true. I know four people here in Arkansas who are strict vegetarians and have been for 30+ years. I know another person who is a vegan and has been for over 25. They're healthier than anyone I've *ever* met, as well as looking at least 10 years younger than their true age. Whether or not the fish enjoy "being toyed with" I do not know and wouldn't know unless they could talk. Maybe it breaks up their day, for all I know. What I do not understand is criticizing us for catch and release fishing when 100% of the time the fish are able to go back and live out their natural lives, probably, in a lake the size of Bull Shoals, to never be caught again. The lures we use in bass fishing are are never swallowed. Other people not just kill them, but torture them to death to satisfy their taste buds (not really because they can't live without them). I don't deny people the right to live their lives how they choose, I'm not going to be a former meat eater who criticizes those who eat it, even if I know it lived a tortured short life on a factory farm. I will probably eat organic, naturally raised meat on occasion again. I know I will eat fish again. But I won't lie to myself and say it's because I *have* to have it to survive, either. It's because I like it. I'm not fighting roosters or dogs. We don't hang kittens by their tails from clotheslines. We're catching fish, which ultimately proves harmless to them as evidenced by the fact that they swim away, every time.
Sounds to me like you and Dale live your principles, Kerri. I really admire that, have never been able to go full vegetarian or vegan, even though I know full well it’s the right thing to do, both for health AND ethics.
I’ve learned we ALL have some level of hypocrisy to our belief system. I felt badly for loving pork every time a rescue friend of mine posted cute pictures of her pet pig on Facebook. However, I’ve never felt bad about watching a fish swim back to its life. Maybe I should, but I don’t.
Truce, Kerri.
Here is a quote from “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver (and one that I totally agree with):
“On the day of the hunt I came to know in the slick center of my bones this one thing: all animals kill to survive, and we are all animals. The lion kills the baboon, the baboon kills fat grasshoppers. The elephant tears up living trees, dragging their precious roots from the dirt they love. The hungry antelope’s shadow passes over the startled grass. And we, even if we had no meat or even grass to gnaw, still boil our water to kill the invisible creatures that would like to kill us first. And swallow quinine pills. The death of something living is the price of our own survival, and we pay it again and again. We have no choice.”
The Jains, an ancient religion, practice non-violence toward ALL living beings. They even wear masks over their mouths so they don’t accidentally inhale an insect. They refrain from brushing their teeth so they don’t kill the “germs” that live in their mouths. Every time we walk on grass we may kill hundreds of insects.
You would kill a snake that threatened your dogs. We use antibiotics to kill bacteria.
But, as humans, we tend to anthropomorphize. We respect animals that look like us – have recognizable eyes, noses, mouths, etc. Other forms of life – plants, microbes, insects, etc. are considered lesser forms of life that we kill with impunity.
Let’s be honest and admit that we have to kill to live – even if it is a venomous snake.
That’s all I ask.
No blame nor condemnation. Just honesty.
Yes, we do kill in self defense of ourselves and our dogs, but that isn’t what you were saying. You were saying you eat meat because you realize we have to kill and eat it to survive. But I do not think of other forms of life as lesser beings. Otherwise, like many people do here, I would run over venomous snakes in the road, even when they pose no threat to me. I would run over and kill turtles for the fun of it, instead of stopping my car and moving them to the side of the road. I would torture gars (a fish that isn’t fit to eat) for the thrill of it instead of freeing it from a rope on the neighbor’s dock. I would not catch moths or spiders and put them back outside. I have a very healthy respect for life and as stated, whether the fish “enjoy” being caught or not, they still have their life and as far as I can tell, are no worse for it. As I learned today, studies show that they may actually be better for it in the future.
That is SO NOT what I was saying, Kerri. I eat meat, yes. That kills animals. I take antibiotics – that kills bacteria. I kill mosquitoes, etc.
But I give up.
All I am trying to say is this: either all life is valuable or none is.
You seemed to say that vegetarians and vegans do not kill and I question that. Do they eat vegetables? Are vegetables a life form?
I fail to understand the issue.
Disease usually involves a life form. Do we submit or do we fight it?
I am weary of this debate. Obviously I have failed to make my point. I am sorry. You win, then.
It isn’t about “winning,” Olivia. You’re right, I obviously don’t get the point and that’s been my whole point. I don’t understand the point in wanting me to admit that we have to kill bacteria to survive. Everyone knows we have to kill in defense of our lives. We kill bacteria. We kill weeds and we eat plants. Do the plants enjoy getting picked and eaten? I don’t know, just as I don’t know if fish enjoy being caught and released back into the lake. I suspect they enjoy that much more than being caught, filleted alive and eaten. I never claimed to be morally superior or more righteous because I’ve decided not to include meat as a main source of food in my diet. As a matter of fact, I tried to de=emphasize my own ethical questions about meat on this blog and emphasize the health reasons, which truly and honestly, is what is keeping me going. Because, damn, I still love a good filet mignon and pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon. But I am getting older, if I am going to make healthy changes for myself, I have to do it now. I am an animal lover, I try to leave as little imprint on the world as possible and do as little harm as possible. That’s what I feel in my heart to be true. I never claimed to be perfect or to not kill flies or mosquitoes. And yes, I see catch and release fishing as harmless fun for us. I cannot answer for them.
Oh, I hope you have fun, Brette! We never keep what we catch, we’re catch and release. 🙂
Is that fun for the fish, too? Just wondering.
I don’t have any idea, Olivia, but at least we don’t catch them and torture them to death by filleting them while they are still alive. Nor do we catch anything and torture it at all. As a matter of fact, we’ve saved a few fish that were caught on jug lines that had been placed out and forgotten, a fish that got caught in a rope that was dangling from a neighbor’s dock (he had been there so long, he was exhausted and nearly dead) and fish and turtles that were caught in trash and nets near shore. The fish we catch are placed gently back into the water and swim off.
Kerri- you and Dale are actually helping those fish by catching and releasing, because each time that happens, the fish learns something about how to avoid getting caught again. They are not un-thinking, un-cognizant creatures, they have the ability to learn from experience, and they develop skills to avoid a fisherman’s hook in the future. And that makes it less likely the poor thing will end up in someone’s frying pan!
My 3 kids each caught the same fish within minutes of each other . . . DH kept throwing it back.
I guess that one didn’t learn.
Here is link to an article that explains how catch and release actually “trains” fish to avoid being caught again: “It’s even possible that catch and release of fish in such large numbers, may actually be stimulating an evolution of sorts in fish. We could be helping them learn to avoid being caught again. The studies on “smart” bass gave indications that fish which have been caught on a lure, can learn from the experience and not be as easily caught again. Bass behavior studies provide some facts about what bass can learn, remember and what kind, if any, problem-solving abilities they have.
And those abilities have proven fairly convenient for bass, not as convenient for bass fishermen. Noises and what bass see can be associated by them with danger. Though they don’t necessarily “think” like humans, they can learn that a certain lure, or sound means danger. Yet they might still hit a lure of a different color or type as it has not yet been associated with a similar danger. Which is of course why lure manufacturers are in the catbird seat of this sport. Creating new baits and new colors is to their advantage in selling more baits, but it is also needed by anglers to continue to “trick” bass into biting them.” http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/catch_and_release_bass.html
Wow, Kathleen I did not know that. I looked it up and there are actually studies that back that up out of Canada, too, Olivia! http://sfrc.ufl.edu/allenlab/Popular%20Articles/Fish%20can%20learn.pdf How do you know it was the same fish? Small perch especially, look alike and will not move from an area along a bank after one of their school is caught.
If that was the same fish, it doesn’t sound like it was too much fun for that one, either! 😉
We are fishing this weekend! Bass season doesn’t open for a few more weeks though and the other eating fish that are supposed to exist in our lake are just MIA, so I doubt we will catch anything we can keep. I try to always make sure I do something fun on the weekends. You can’t work all the time.