Fishing & retirement

Happy birthday (yesterday) to my son Matthew! I love you.

I wasn’t able to get to the internet on Sunday so here’s a belated Happy Father’s Day to all of you Dads.

I’ve gone back to fishing 2ce a day, early morning, and with Peter in the evening. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that. As a matter of fact I haven’t done it consistently since Zeppi left. I went fishing around 5:30am on Sunday morning 6/20 and I caught my 1st jew fish! It was about 4 pounds (2 lbs filleted) but was exciting none the less. I also caught 3 mangrove snappers and also caught my 1st stone bass in my throw net. I still look like I belong in the Special Olympics when I throw, compared to the locals who would be medalists in the regular Olympics, but over time, and with MUCH practice, I’ll learn how to do it. Saturday night I to the lagoon went with Peter. I had a few hits but didn’t land anything. Peter caught about 20lbs of fish so he was a happy boy. He caught a good mix of stone bass, small snook, and barassee. He’ll be cash flush today (Sunday) after he fillets them and hits his customers. He’s drooling over the full moon next week when the fishing is typically the best. I’ll introduce my brother Dave to lagoon fishing the night of 6/26. Hopefully we’ll do well too. Monday morning I hit the lagoon at 6am and my 1st fish was a 4 pound black snapper! In the 2 hours I was there I caught a 2lb black snapper, a 1 lb mangrove snapper, and a 1lb red snapper, all keepers. I also tossed back a few too small to keep. I’ll catch them when they get bigger! All in all it was a great way to start the week. I have 10 fish dinners in my freezer now. The black snapper and the jew fish account for 4 of them. I couldn’t find my camera on Sunday and Tricia was at the internet so no picture of the jew fish so I’ll save that picture for a bigger one. I did however find my camera and did get a shot of the black snapper. And…I caught it’s twin Monday evening! It was the exact same size and weight as the one this morning. I’ve attached both pictures. I added it to Peter’s bag and he was a happy boy. He also caught a small jew fish on his hand line to add to his sack. This morning was a couple of black snappers that I gave to Tricia. Well I finally did it. I snagged a manatee while fishing on Tuesday 6/22. Luckily I didn’t lose too much line. I was fishing the mangrove roots and he, or she, came swimming by. I use quick rusting hooks so it will rust out of him in a few days. Their skin is very tough and I’m sure it didn’t feel the hook or even know it was snagged. I’m pretty careful about moving my line when I see them coming by but this one silently cruised by before I could do anything about it. It was a short fishing night because there were about 8 manatees cruising around. Wednesday morning was a nice red snapper that I gave to Tricia and the evening was a bust. There were too many people trying to fish too small an area of the lagoon and they kept snagging each other so I didn’t even try. This morning (Thursday) all I caught were 2 remora. One was almost 3 feet long and gave me a great fight. Peter took it home to eat. I’ll let you know if he says they are good tasting or not when he tells me. He’s never eaten one but both he and I have heard they are good. It’s got a nice white meat when you cut it open. Well that’s enough about fishing unless I catch something outstanding. This update was just to give you a taste (no pun intended) of what the fishing is like here.

I heard that I was a small topic of discussion at the Bethel/Jones wedding in the Seattle area. The discussion revolved around retiring out of the country and how most people agreed that they couldn’t do it. It definitely is hard being away from family and friends and retiring to a 3rd, some say 4th, world country is also daunting in and of itself. Strange land, strange people, lack of familiar foods. But I knew that going into my retirement here and planned for it. I do talk to my kids once a week and we email as well. It’s hard not seeing their faces or being able to hug and kiss them. I’ll be back for the holidays though and they are welcome to come down to visit. But schedules and lives get in the way. That is the hardest thing to bear. Other than that I have a peaceful life and enjoy my passions every day, those being reading and fishing. I could have a few more creature comforts like TV but I don’t miss it so it’s an unnecessary expense on my limited budget. I did download over 500 movies and 35 TV series, some running as long as 7 years. I also borrow DVDs from friends. That takes up my night. I go to sleep around 10pm and get up around 5:30am to go fishing. I brought over 250 books too and there are plenty of book exchanges here to add new ones as I read through the ones that I have. There is also a library in town. I spend hours in my chair in the shade of the beach grapes on the beach reading, listening to my iPod, and napping. Meals are when I’m hungry, usually 2ce a day, and I have a normal, varied diet running the gamete of beef, pork, chicken, and fish so meals are never boring. There are some new local veggies and fruits in my diet to add additional interest. I am never lonely because I have my new friends here and there are always interesting boarders to talk to. I’m never bored and suffer a lot less, actually almost no, stress anymore which is just what I was looking for in my retirement. But for missing family and friends I live a delightful life. There are hundreds of ex-pat Americans living the same type of life as me here in Belize and enjoying it. I’m sure it’s not for everyone though.

The next news will be of Dave’s and my travels once he gets here on Saturday.

As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!