Fishin'

When I think of fishin', I think of my grand-father, Joseph Chariton Platt. He loved fishin'. Anyone who gets up at 4 in the morning to do anything has to love it!!!

I don't have Joe's zeal for fishin' despite all the times I went with him, but I do have nice memories. My favorite events were to go to Sekui, Washington and hop on the charter boat to catch salmon in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The day of the charter always entailed an early rising at 4 am. I would be half awake as I downed my eggs and bacon before boarding the boat in the dark. I remember thinking at 6am that the it seemed like the day was half over, I was sleepy, and there was a lot of fishin to do.

(This got me ready for being the pay officer at Ft Dix, NJ. this event started at 3:30 because the powers that be did not want us to be late. The consequences of being late were seen when one fellow officer was an hour late. In addition to the normal line of 30 that had to be serviced in an hour was added 60 additional soldiers!)

(The other long day experience was in Ranger School where we would start our day at around 8 with a briefing by our new team, we would do a mission which entailed miles of hiking, finish the mission, hike miles to a spot to gather and plan and then head out at 10pm so we could complete a mission at 2am!!)

Anyway, I have a pleasant memory in that I caught a 30 pound salmon when I was about 10 years old. It made my arm ache but I wasn't going to let the fish win.

The other experiences which I still cherish are hikes into the woods to find a stream and extract some fish from it.

I may not go into the woods to fish today, but I still really enjoy going into the woods on a hike. There is nothing more peaceful than listening to the babbling brook!!