A Wasted Day?

I heard a friend of mine complaining the other day about how he had "wasted" his time last weekend. It seems that my friend went fishing with a few guys and the west wind was blowing and the bays were off-color and they didn't catch many fish. He complained that he had gotten out of bed early and that he lost sleep that he really needed. He complained that he had spent $50.00 of his own money and that he might as well have thrown it into the bay for all the good it did him, "I would have been better off staying in bed!"

What do you folks think? Did my friend "waste" his time? Would he have been better off staying in bed? Yes? No?

Let's break it down a little, shall we? Let's have a look at this fishing trip that "wasted" my friend's time.

From what I was told, they left El Campo, Texas at 4:30 in the morning. That means that he probably got out of bed around 4:00 or maybe even 3:45. He gets out of bed every morning during the week at 5:00, so he lost an hour, maybe an hour and a half of sleep that day. They drove to Port O'Connor and that's 82 miles from El Campo, so they drove about an hour and a half during which time I'm sure that they talked about everything from what the market is doing to who's cheating on who around town. So he got to spend an hour and a half carrying on conversations that wouldn't be politically correct to carry on in public. I'm sure they told jokes and poked fun I'd bet that was a fun ride to the bay, knowing those guys as I do; I'm sure my name came up a few times as well and I can only hope that they weren't too hard on me.

They stopped for gas in Port Lavaca and paid about 10 cents less per gallon than they would have in El Campo so they saved a little money by doing that, and they got to enjoy the ride down there in a new Suburban, so that had to have been a great ride.

They unloaded their boat at Clark's Marina (at my suggestion), and none of them had unloaded there before, so that was a new experience for them. They talked to some folks there who told them what he had heard about who was catching what, where, when and what they were catching them on. They were able to enjoy a boat ride in a fine almost new Mowdy that belongs to one of those boys, and that's a fine boat to run in the back bays of Port O'Connor.

They were able to slip into the cool early morning water and wade some really nice sand flats while watching the sun spread daylight over the bay. They were able to see the gulls, spoonbills and the pelicans fly. They saw porpoises jump and feed and they were able to watch those magnificent and intelligent animals enjoy the water.

He told me that they saw thousands of ducks flying in and out of the marsh How many people get to see something like that?

They all got to eat lunch in Port O'Connor and enjoy the great food there, as well as the hospitality that the management there offers. I ate fast food the day they fished and had a hamburger that I received from a girl who couldn't make change nor hold a conversation. I think all she said was "Thanks, come back again."

They all got to spend another hour and a half on the return trip to El Campo and again were able to have a great conversation with out the usual interruptions by kids, wives or bosses.

I don't know about you folks, but I think that my friend did anything but "waste" his time. I think that the money he spent was a lot less than what he would have spent at Wal-Mart or at some mall in Houston or Victoria. I think that there are a lot of people who have never seen a porpoise in the wild or who have been fortunate enough to see the sun come up over the bay while actually wading and fishing in it.

So I don't think any time was "wasted" and I'm quite certain that I would have been much happier on that trip than I was stuck at home doing yard work. What's that old saying? "A day spent fishing is better than a day spent in the office?" And for my friend, here's a little saying my Grandfather was fond of using, "Get up and get going people die in bed!"

Be Safe,
Martin