Campground Adventures in a Technical World

It used to be that when a guy disappears with canoe and camper for ten days he would have done just that . 


 There would be no communication to the those who   stayed back; no  possibility that photos or adventure  would be shared ; no exchange of niceties until the grand homecoming that could only be guessed at in terms of  exact time and date.  


With the advent of  new technology and the yen to 'keep up' with modern trends, those days of total unplugging on the part of this family's fisherman has pretty much ended.


I say   pretty much ended because just because one puts a texting device in the hands of an individual does not mean that communication is automatically the  result of the texting experience. 


 In actuality it can become more of an exercise in reading than writing, employing the use of contextual, syntax, and word configuration clues along with the never ending question on the part of the reader , "Just what the H.... is he talking about?"


Some examples to prove this point.


Very gonning


Sokis, mac salad no luck fishing


Got sun rain sheter


Owls hottun


Very gonning firhing


Fursns is on


Gjawmj mj asj mg  

Have to chrach phonie


Hi had know sereve


Playing majgog


Ok having samno


At camp saw flon chop taters


Noting so far


Haas a good thing


Very gonning


Eat preogies saugeg


Having coffee then firshing


I love you eggs then to flon


2 fish over 75 center meters




I was able to decipher most through the time of day and from my own questions .


Can anyone guess which one probably means


 "I have my jammies on?"



















My most favourite camper and fisherman in the world has entered into the era of high tech communication armed with unlimited texting on his cell phone .

Fishy Fishy in the Sea

Fishing Vocabulary

Lure ,
Hook,
Spool,
Spoon,
Swivel,
Fillet,
Rod,
Reel,
Anchor,
Trolling,
Casting,
Limit,
Jack,
Wall Eye,
Pike,
Len Thompson and,
Canadian Wiggler.


Some Common Fishing Rules Are:

Keep the tackle box closed in case it gets dumped.


WEAR the life jacket in case you get dumped.


Reel in as soon as you know the other fisherman has caught a fish.


Keep your rod up and your tension on.


The boat coming off the water  is the boat that has the next right to use the dock.

Never fish off the same side of the boat as the other person.



PHRASES Heard on a Fishing Weekend.

Got One!
Oh..a nibble.!
Gone!  Really Gone! Gone! Gone! Gone! (as in hook is Gone in weeds, fish, or rocks) . The same meaning can be expressed   with the phrase, "Fish On! Fish Off!"
I just bought that hook.
"It  got away you mean," in reply to, "It Let Go!"
I've seen sardines bigger than that!
I need a new leader.
It was huge!
Did it ever pull!
Where  are the licenses?
Should we keep it?
Watch out for  the Rock!
Did you see it?
Hammer Handle!
Grandpa..what if we have to pee when we are in the boat?
Sure you can look in my cooler, Sir.
WHOA!
I'm hooked.
I guess there were some rocks there.
Got the first fish!
Got the biggest fish!
Do you think they are going to run that all night long? (generator reference)
Why would they need those?



SOUNDS one hears on a fishing trip.

Boat motors.
Sea gulls.
Kill deers.
Loons.
Waves splashing.
Boats on rocks.
Trucks spinning tires.
Squeak of trailer springs.
Generators :(
Electric filleting knives. ?????

SIGHTS on Fishing Trip

Boats on water.
Boats with high sides.
Boats with low sides.
Wide Boats.
Narrow boats.
Boats on trailers.
Boats on trucks.
Fish jumping out of the water.
Pelicans sculling.
White caps.
Campsites with Halogen Lights.
Boat being paddled back to shore in the morning.
Another boat being paddled back in the morning.
Boat being paddled back (again) to shore in the afternoon.
Hooks flying unleashed from the line.
Kid in raft without life jacket.
Man in underwear in water trying to  reach lost hook.
Dogs  in water.
White caps.
Four people standing up in boat at the same time.
Two people in boat without life jackets.
Man standing behind 6 year old with rod and hook.
Man being hooked by 6 year old with rod and hook.
Conservation Officer driving ghost truck.

Hang Up and Dial Again

I am not sure if it is an Aesop's Fable or simply a little story from my primary school days, but there is a story about  How the Bear Got Its Tale 


 To the best of my recollection the story describes the Bear as at one time having a long tail as well as having a yen for the taste of fish.  As it was in the winter, the only way the Bear was able to do any fishing was to make a hole in the ice (the story did not give details as to how this was done) and then the Bear, not having anything else on hand subsequently placed his tail into the hole as bait and waited for the fish to nibble, and ultimately become his dinner.  The bear in the story waited, and waited, and waited..and then he waited some more.  He waited all through the night  in this position until he felt something distinctly bite on his tail.  The bear jumped up and turned around quickly to see what his breakfast was going to look like only to see that his tail had been left in the frozen ice. Hence that is why the bear to this day has a short tail.

Gruesome sounding isn't it?  I am not quite sure what the moral of the story is or why someone thought that that story should be chosen to terrorize the minds of small children for a generation.


Was the message about fishing and how one should always carry appropriate fishing gear? Or if it was written today, would it be a comment upon how long it took the ice to actually freeze the tail hard enough to rip it off as it might be interpreted by the Green House Gas Environmentalists?  


Personally, I think the story is about waiting and how one can get ripped off in time, money, and effort and yes even TAILS, if one decides to wait too long for something, whatever that something may be.


  It may be waiting for your order in a restaurant, which has gotten inadvertently dropped on the floor in the  kitchen , while your family of 6 waits patiently for 45 minutes as others around you are served their orders.


  It may be waiting for the 'party to which you dialed' has put you on hold and you have listened to the whole  Henri Mancini album twice until it is past the time that the government office you have called two time zones away is open until after the long weekend.  


 The story may even about waiting 2 or more hours  to be called into the office of some professional advisor such as  a doctor, lawyer, dentist or even mental health professional, all because you have gotten the date wrong and were supposed to be there at that same time of day but one day earlier.


Could the  message of this story be more about the survival of the fittest?..or more appropriately the smartest? Obviously  the intelligence of the fish far surpasses that of the Bear...not surprisingly as fish do travel in schools and bears travel without poles.  

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.
Abraham Lincoln