Angling this Fishing Yarn

          Labor Day typically signals the unofficial end of summer.  But out here in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, Labor Day weekend typically is hot and humid, steamy at best. But thanks to Hurricane Earl (who knew one could ever be grateful for a hurricane), the weather here this past weekend has been nothing short of beautiful.  So I fought the urge to spend the holiday weekend as I typically have done in the past -- at home, sometimes with a grill, sometimes with a crochet hook, but always getting the kids into a back-to-school frame of mind. This year, we made the two- hour drive to Maryland's Eastern Shore to visit old friends.
          N and S live on the Choptank River, where I thought it would be fun to fish off their brand new pier, which had not been inaugurated, not counting their curious orange tabby or their always curious Kerry Blue Terrier.  I also thought fishing might keep the girls from getting bored.  So as we headed east, I picked up a couple of simple (read cheap) rod and reels and a couple of hooks and lures.  We were all set.  I also brought my current crochet project with me, just in case.
          First, I taught the girls how to cast off (no, not knitting, this is a crochet blog).  For you non-anglers, casting simply is the act of throwing the fishing line out over the water using a flexible fishing rod and reel.  Vashti soon became quite adept at casting with her closed spin cast reel.  It took Lariat a bit longer because I had saddled her with an open-face spinning reel, but she also was casting with confidence.  Before you ask, no, no fish were harmed during this escapade.  In fact, no fish were even caught, although Lariat got two nibbles that ripped the hook off the line, and I got a heck of a pull that ripped the hook and bobber clean off the line.
          This is where this fish tale connects to crochet.  It soon became evident that I had made the mistake of buying reels with 8 pound test line - so thin you can bite it clean through with your teeth.  To add insult to injury, the reels were cheap.  I moved from Lariat then to Vashti to untangle their lines.  And just as with a tangled ball of yarn, my first urge was to tug and  attempt to unweave the knots.  But, thankfully, I remembered my previous forays into detangling yarn and stopped trying to outhink the tangles and twists.  
          That afternoon, as summer was singing her swan song, I sat patiently on the dock untangling fishing line. As the sun began to set, turning the water from a cold dirty blue to a shimmering orange, I donned my sweater and sat patiently on the dock untangling fishing line.  Eventually, it was to time to "cut bait."  The tangles won out. Weak filament plus cheap reel equals tangled line. You could say I got what I paid for.
          Although the fish proved as elusive as an untangled line, we did enjoy good weather, good food, and good friends.  I even came prepared for a bit of crochet and came away with this fishing yarn. 
          Wishing you all a wonderful Labor Day weekend.