So things happen sometimes. Sometimes those things involve one’s gall bladder, which (given the opportunity ) just might decide to rise up in rebellion and throw a monkey wrench into the otherwise peaceful workings of one’s life. The solution is a spell in the hospital and then a week to recover.
One really can’t do much in the way of outside-world-type things while recovering from a conflict with a recalcitrant gall bladder. So I’m a little restless, and she sees it.
“The surgeon said to take it easy for a week,” she said. “No travel. No hiking. No lifting. Just rest.”
And so I have.
While I rest (or daydream…or possibly nap), the sun shines on highways heading north-south-east-west, highways I won’t travel any time soon. It brightens the shadowy spots on trails that I won’t be hiking for a while. And it warms those beloved rivers and creeks, bringing them back to life again.
“Warmth will do that, you know,” I say, half to myself.
But I must be speaking not as softly as I think, for she replies.
“Yes,” she says. “It does.”
I look her way. She looks back at me and smiles.
“It won’t be long,” she says. “You’ll be out and about in no time.”
But what do self-proclaimed Great Outdoorsman like me do when the great outdoors is off the table for a while?
I’ll tell you what we do. We read.
One title I’ve meant to get around to for a while now is Angler’s Guide to Georgia State Parks, a new book by longtime outdoor journalists Polly Dean and Jimmy Jacobs.
Georgia boasts some 45 state parks, and all but one of them offers you the chance to wet a line. From trout to bass to bream to saltwater species, this abundance of opportunity means that there’s something for just about every angler.
The parks are presented in individual chapters, each detailing the type of water and species of fish that are to be found.
There’s also insight into the all-important matter access, and it’s the kind of commentary that I prefer — what I like to call “just enough information.” It’s enough to get you where you need to be but not so much that miss out on the fulfilling fun of planning outings and figuring things out on your own.
If you fish in Georgia, you’ll want to add this one to your library. It’s available from Amazon, from many outfitters and fishing shops, and direct from the author at jimmyjacobsoutdoors.com It’s a great guide when you’re heading out for a day of fishing, and it’s fine fodder for firing the imagination on those days when getting out and about just isn’t in the cards … for days like this one, in other words.
And pretty soon I’m daydreaming again, I guess, thinking about some of that fishing, when I hear her voice.
“Watcha thinking?” she asks.
I open my eyes and I see her, and I smile again.
“It won’t be long,” she says. “Then we’ll fish.”
Yes. Then we’ll fish. We will.
