Lesson 1

I took a day off to visit A .. we took a drive up to Mersing.. for someone I haven't met in almost 5 years we sure got along very well.. Guess, you just connect with some people very well and others not so well.. No matter how little or how hard you try .. u just have to be on the same wavelength.. and that's measured by plain Feeling.. simple yet a very complex word..

It took me almost 4 hours to reach Mersing with the stops at Larkin for breakfast and the yummy Bak Kut Teh for lunch..

However long the drive was.. it was worth it..
the fishing spot was a charming place not because it had anything I hadn't seen before.. it was a quiet, serene little beachfront with islands seen popping out of the calm sea in the not so distant horizon..
Children skinny dipping with absolutely no cares in the world..
footprints seen on moist sand..
gentle waves, leaves rustling,
streams of water making its way up the shores thru the cracks of the rocky coast and then withdrawing back in its ever so calming way..

In a bit I embarked on Lesson 1 with the Master. assembling, tying, hooking up and the attraction key.. the bait. and voila.. my graceful first swing..
it was a joy just being in the middle of nature's works.. and there I patiently waited.. unknown to what it'd feel like ... was it gonna be a tug, or a jerk or absolutely nothing.. I was oblivious to the answer and then A came along and offered me an icy cold rootbeer..

Recollecting thoughts..
Sun shining down on me as I half looked around the beauty surrounding me and paying a little attention to any movement of the rod.. and in all that heat and joy and sunshine and breeze.. I was offered an ICY COLD ROOTBEER.. man.. was that a simple yet HUGE addition to the joys in me already.. I can't explain..

and so.. as I continued..
my line felt a tug! I knew that was it.. too sure.. even when it was the first time..
the pull seemed a little heavier.. and I was hoping to see something big, fat.. but there at the end of my slightly bent rod appeared a cute little baby grouper.. so cute.. I couldn't find it in my heart to kill it. A decided to release it too and as he attempted to remove the hook from its mouth.. the suffering fella made me feel so bad I was even trying to find his other bigger friends..
His mouth opened so big, gasping for air and feeling the pain of the hook then even I felt its pain..

I say.. fishing isn't an easy hobby if you feel that much for friends of the ocean you usually see dead.. when they're alive .. they carry with them a vastly different identity..
I still feel your pain .. arrghh.. Id never want to be born a fish..

and so .. Im glad he was released back to his home..
and I packed up with no prize but it was good.. I was glad we saved 3 lives today.. =)

Oh and the parable of the tangled up string.. u see a tangle, u think its simple to untaggle. But the more you try , the worst it gets and after a while you don't even know where to start .. and then you realise.. is there a point?? This thing's just wasting time and with the efforts spent in trying to untangle something almost impossible.. there's still a possibility it might twine up again. Excess baggage perhaps?? and when we're faced with that in life , sometimes its so much easier to focus on the better part of life by simply cutting off the entangled part and carrying on where you left off.. in pursuit of greater things..

And so.. 7th March.. I've learnt lots.. Im glad.. I'm contented and sometimes feel like a fool but i'm en-route.... no turning back..