Another Year Older

Ripples in the Pond by J. Binford-Bell

Turned 67 yesterday. Birthdays are not like those of my youth. Of note was turning 21 twice. It was easier to fake ID's in those days. I made the mistake of celebrating my 21st birthdays at the same bar and the bartender remembered. "Happy 21st Birthday Again," he said. Most bars in Albuquerque during those days gave you a free drink on your legal age birthday. The key was to hit as many of them with your friends as possible.

Central Avenue was lined with bars. No way could you get to them all. So you picked a side - north or south. And a direction - east to west or west to east. I obviously picked the same side and the same direction twice. Hell, my 21st birthdays were a couple of years apart. Maybe three.

This birthday it was ice tea (not the Long Island kind) with dinner at Calamity Jane's in Eagle Nest. It only has two bars. One on each side of the street. The big gift of the evening was a fishing license. I now qualify for the senior discount. Last fall I got the Senior life time pass from the National Parks. Since most fishing is on state parks I was hoping that New Mexico gave something similar for seniors. NOT. I guess we would take up tourist space. So fishing our local lake will be $5.00 a visit.

My friend got me the fishing license so we could fish together. Her husband won't go. Men seem to get older and more stuck in their ways faster than women. Mother fished on after Dad died. They were both 67 so I figure I best get my fishing in while the fishing is good.

Tourists, the ones we save those parking spots for in the state parks, introduced Pike to Eagle Nest Lake which was once home to just trout and Coho Salmon and perch. No limit on Pike. They want them gone. So I am doing Pike research. I decided some years ago (right after the life altering ski accident) that learning new things was what life was all about. Friends on Facebook have given me tips on catching Pike which have the advantage of being good to eat (they are not liked because they eat trout) and I am told the technique for filleting them is a tad different than bass. Fortunately YouTube has instructional videos. I am still willing to help out New Mexico lakes even if they won't give seniors a break beyond the fishing license.

When I turned 21 both times we didn't have cell phones or personal home computers let alone tabs and laptops. So no Facebook or YouTube. Times have changed. But it is all just ripples in the pond of cosmic consciousness.

Comments

  1. The Blog of BeeJune 8, 2012 at 7:15 AM

    I only turned 21 once and what a time it was. My parents gave me a ball!!!

    I used to fish - my father loved to and he taught me how relaxing it was. Peaceful lakes and rivers. I did however game fish in Bermuda which was not so peaceful. James inherited his grandfather's love of fishing and games fishes.

    I don't know anything about Pike at all but you will learn and will have yet another string to that ever increasing in size bow of yours. One of the beauties of getting older is that we seem to be able to pack a great deal more into our time - I'd love to have more time to do the things I want to do for me.

    Happy fishing!

    ReplyDelete

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