Jenni caught her first fish, and it was a beaut!
Of course, things weren't quite that simple....
The truck was loaded and ready for a 0730 departure from the site to the beach. It rained ALL night...poured. BUT - we had salmon to catch. Arielle and the younger 3 stayed at the cabin.
It was so foggy the mountains and entrance to the ocean disappeared.
I put the new phone away - determined not to lose another phone. LOL Stacia caught the first fish of the year! It was a beauty.
The first hour was slow...standing in chest-deep cold river water, in the rain and waiting for salmon is a fine and pleasant misery. Eventually, the salmon began hitting. Benny was the official bonker. I took care of gills and tails, rinsing and loading into the correct cooler, and chasing the fishermen down the beach as the tide went out. When the salmon began hitting, they came fast! Our goal for this trip was between 20 - 30 salmon, Cory hoped for 45 and Jenni wanted "some." In ONE tide we got 38, Cory 48 and Jenni 10. NINETY-SIX in ONE tide! That leaves the rest of our required 5 nights in the campground for family fun. The photo below took on significance later in the day.
 |
| Signed her harvest card in the rain |
Carrie and the girls arrived. Liv has outgrown her waders, and they were passed down to Benny. Cory plans to take he and Danny out fishing tomorrow. We brought a little net just for Benny. He's excited.
Carrie and the girls went to check in to the hotel and the rest of us began cleaning 96 wild, fresh caught, Alaskan salmon. It took a bit of time. We discovered we NEEDED the lifestyle table we'd not packed. Jenni and I ran to Walmart and bought a 6-foot folding BLACK table. It will live in the RV. As we drove back to the cleaning station we received a call from Krista, "Where are you and Jenni's harvest cards?"
Um...in your wet bag. This was the first time we'd ever had a trooper show up IN THE CAMPGROUND 10 minutes from the beach and ask to see our harvest cards. We thought you had to keep the card with you until you got them off the beach. LOL All was well - I received a stern warning in abstentia to read and follow instructions better. I've heard that before somewhere. I hadn't signed my card.
The processing crew...Michael, Luke, Cory, Krista and Allie scaled, cleaned and fillet salmon.
 |
| Hard good - joy integrated with sorrow |
 |
| Michael & Cory 📷by Arielle |
Stacia, Benny and I patted them dry and put them in freezer bags.
Jenni went back to our site and began sealing bags. She transported coolers of Salmon from the cleaning station to our campsite. Arielle kept Jenni company, watched children, started dinner and filled the freezer with bags of fresh Salmon.
96 salmon in ONE tide. Others were catching nothing. Most were doing well. Tomorrow, we'll see what Benny catches - and if Cory can resist. Jenni may want to catch a few more. We are done. I wouldn't mind catching more - but I don't want to clean another salmon. LOL
Krista made dinner of a yummy veggie soup, nuggets for the kids, lots of bread and dessert. After dinner some had showers to take. We were all EXHAUSTED and the night ended fairly quickly. Stacia and Danny are not feeling well.
How was the day? Joy and grief... a hard good. There were lots of somber moments and yes, tears do leak from ones eyes from time to time. Sitting on the beach and remembering Josiah's heart to make sure we all had everything we needed...watching Cory, Luke and Krista step into that place...remembering how many of us caught our first salmon with the aid of Josiah, his laughter when I would fall under the water, taking the photo last year to announce Josi's upcoming arrival....we missed him packing gear and lugging coolers. His presence was greatly missed when we processed. He was our fastest filleter and he entertained us with non-stop laughing banter. Carrie arrived and Josiah wasn't here to greet her. Moments. We are living through another first...and realizing the seconds aren't going to be magically "all better." We will continue to make space for all of our emotions on this unwanted journey we are on. We will make space, God heals what we authentically offer to him. He is always with us, and he comforts.
GRACE NOTES
96 salmon in ONE tide - and days to simply vacation!
Safe travels down for Carrie and the girls!
The best son in laws in the world! Kudos to Cory and Luke!
No comments:
Post a Comment