My pole leapt off the boat and disappeared into the lake with hardly a splash.  The final sight was a taunting roll of the fish who had taken it.  I couldn’t believe it.

Yes, I had left my pole unattended.  We hadn’t had even a tap all day so I was busy bird watching.   Bad decision.

Kent came to the rescue.  He cast about with a weighted treble hook and managed to snag my line along the bottom of the lake.  First we retrieved the pole, rinsed the grit out of the reel, and then brought in the “lunker” that had taken the whole thing.  It was an ugly ole catfish that was promptly returned to the lake.

Two new and one replaced crown for Kent.  He cracked a tooth over the holidays and that one fix grew into a more complicated dental encounter.

My voicemail is functional again.  Sorry for those who might have been trying to reach me.  We are still in a relative dead zone though so please be patient.  Email gets through pretty well.

I have had better but it was a pretty good
version at the Three Bananas in Crescent
City

A thick, moss draped live oak canopy provides cool, damp shade.  The floor beneath the trees is covered with lush green ferns thriving in the shade.  This is one of many old-school ferneries that dot the rural Florida landscape.  It is a perfect fit of nature and commerce as they grow ferns for sale at nursuries.

Large tracts of land are totally covered with boxy wooden frames completely covered with black netting.  Long stretches of roadside a bordered by these unsightly walls.  This is the modern day fernery.  Gone is the symbiotic relationship of fern and oak and gone is the cool shaded space that is easy on the eye.  Yuck.  I suspect it’s more productive but it is no improvement in my view.