Coping Schedule
4:25 PM
Almost quitting time. Totally fed up with work today. Meetings from hell. He-said-she-said Email pissing contests, and everyone sniping at each other.
I swear, on days like this, I almost feel like crying.
5:00 PM
Time to go home. Tired. Exhausted. Head fuzzy. Almost feel like I have the flu. Need to lie down.
5:30 PM
Collapse on couch. Fall asleep to an old M*A*S*H re-run. Brain turned off. Unconscious.
6:00 PM
Wake up. Still tired. Body still all wound up from work. Can’t shake this fuzzy feeling in my head.
6:15 PM
Get in truck, drive to ice-cream store, and get a large chocolate-peanut-butter on a waffle cone.
Already the day is starting to look better.
6:30 PM
Continue driving for a while, and then pull into side road off the main highway.
6:32 PM
Turn onto gravel road, avoiding rocks and washouts.
6:35 PM
Arrive at desitnation. Plop canoe in water.
6:40 PM
Paddle, and try not to re-live the past 12 hours.
6:45 PM
Listen to red-wing blackbirds, white sparrows and loons.
Laughing at the angry chatter of the asshole-squirrels.
Feeling less anxious.
7:00 PM
Observe Zen-like golden reflections in the mirror-smooth water. Head slowly emptying.
7:2? PM
Feel tug on line. Reel it in, and land a feisty little pike.
A magnificent toothy little bastard.
Remind myself: “You caught a fish!”
Therefore, today, no matter what has happened, or what will happen, is a GOOD day.
?:?? PM
Enjoy the last few minutes of sunlight.
As the sun sets, see clouds move in. Hear thunder.
Very faint and distant. Felt, rather than heard. Sending shivers up my spine.
???? PM
Load canoe on car. Drive home in the dark.
Head clear now.
Feeling peaceful.
Content.
And mentally recharged.
z
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Explore posts in the same categories: The Outdoor Friar
Tags: fishing, nature, office stress, outdoors
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June 4, 2011 at 7:22 am
I hear you brother. I really do.
June 4, 2011 at 8:21 am
Office stress sucks — especially when there are meetings involved.
June 4, 2011 at 10:50 am
You’re fortunate that you’re so close to lakes and your canoe is an appendage to your truck.
I love refections in mirror smooth lakes. The shoreline looks familiar. Did we fish there?
I’ve taken similar photos and reflections are so true, I can’t tell if the printed photo is upsidedown.
I need a Fishing Fix. Has bass season started?
June 4, 2011 at 1:06 pm
@Eyeteaguy
My only blessing is to have all this outdoor stuff in my back yard, which is what keeps me going. Otherwise, I would have blown a gasket ages ago.
@Mike
The meetings themselves are bad enough. But it’s when you’re also personally attacked in them that makes it more fun.
@Friar’s Mom
Yep. You and I fished there. Where I got that huge pike last year that “got away”.
Bass season opens June 24. But I found another lake were we can get pike, if you’re interested.
June 4, 2011 at 5:19 pm
Awesome! Aren’t canoes great?
June 4, 2011 at 6:01 pm
@Dot
I lost track of the times I’ve been out so far. I think it’s 7 or 8.
A canoe is cheaper than a $150/hour psychiatrist.
June 17, 2011 at 5:11 pm
Work sucks. It’s not right that all the time you spend away from work is spent trying to recover from work (and by “you” I mean all of us)
June 18, 2011 at 3:51 pm
At least it pays for my fishing trips, though.
August 14, 2011 at 11:07 pm
Great tale, and great end to the day. Love photos. May have borrow one to paint.