Saturday, January 22, 2011

Not As Bad Of A Day As I Expected

As some of you know I went ice fishing yesterday. Well, that's not quite true, you only have my word that I went ice fishing, it's impossible for strangers to really know, unless you witnessed it. For those of you that read my previous post you know I whined a bit about going ice fishing yesterday. There was a healthy dose of dread on my part.

I'm not especially fond of winter weather. We left my place at about 7:00 am and the temperature was -16F with a wind chill reported at -25F to -30F. I'm happy to report my survival, not only my survival but I stayed warm. The money I spent on Thursday on gear paid off handsomely. My son even contributed to my warm gear when he showed up at my place yesterday morning with a winter weather hat thing-a-ma-bob which covered my entire head, with the exception of my eyes. He called it a belated birthday gift as I had just turned 51 last Tuesday.

We have an ice shanty with three portable heaters so I wasn't worried about being too cold during the actual fishing part of the day. My fear of becoming a block of frozen humanity had more to do with the hour we'd spend walking to the fishing hole and set up of the shanty. I was delighted to stay warm during this part of the event.

We spent approximately six hours fishing. The temperature inside the ice shanty was toasty. Almost too warm, but the kid knew I was paranoid about getting cold. We caught a lot of fish. Mostly crappie, perch, and oddly a bass or two. When we left the ice the temperature had risen to -2F. As warmly as we were dressed that seemed almost tropical when compared to the start of the day.

I can safely say that cold weather won't be a factor when we go again. Naturally another dreadful factor has sprung up though. More dastardly than cold weather.

I am woefully out of shape, and 32+ years of smoking has taken its toll. Hauling approximately 200 pounds of ice shanty and fishing equipment between the two of us kind of sucked. Hell, I was wearing about two tons of clothes in addition to what we were hauling around. The kid enjoyed ribbing the old man about, well, getting old and out of shape actually.

(And you know you're getting old when you threaten to kick the kids' ass and he just laughs at you, and continues to shoulder two-thirds of the workload as you wheeze along side of him. Healthy, young, little shit anyway.)

The day ended perfectly. Usually Friday's are my day to babysit my granddaughter. Since we spent the day fishing that didn't happen. About two hours after getting home my son brought her over to my place to see me. Now that was a perfect way to end the day.

But back to the ice fishing.

I'm now thinking I may need to quit smoking, and maybe make an effort to get back into shape. I was truly shocked with my "performance" yesterday. It was quite a wakeup call on how smoking has affected me when pushed to perform some relatively heavy labor. Yesterday pretty much kicked my ass in a physical sense. I've had fleeting thoughts in the past about quitting smoking. Now they're a bit more serious.

Naturally, as I'm an idiot, I typed that last paragraph while actually smoking. As I always like to find a "silver lining" in most situations, this shows I still have the ability to multi-task I guess. Pretty lame, huh?

13 comments:

Venom said...

You'll never regret quitting the cigs - in just twenty days you'll have paid for the winter gear & stuff you bought the other day!
Plus, you'll have that smug sanctimony that ex-smokers are entitled to... ;-)

JustRex said...

Yeah. I get you. The only time I think about quitting is when I have a smoke plugged in my face. Glad you enjoyed the fishing and didn't freeze. And happy belated birthday.

SY said...

LOL!!! well yes it's pretty bad when you can't threaten your kids anymore.. Good luck with that. Some good came from the trip you know you have to work on somethings...apparently multitasking isn't one of them.
great read, jpt
- SY

Dazee Dreamer said...

I'm so glad that you didn't get frostbite and lived to tell the tale. And yes, the end to a perfect day was spending time with your granddaughter.

BB said...

I quit 24 years ago and it was soooo worth it. I am 50 now and I knew if I didn't then I'd never see 50. You won't regret it and your granddaughter will be so thankful you did. Glad your ice fishing adventure was a good, warm one.

ChiTown Girl said...

First of all, I'm glad to hear you survived the trip. Gee, if you had lost your fingers to frostbite, it would probably making quitting a little easier, huh? tee hee!

Yes, it IS time to quit smoking!! I just saw something on The Doctors last week that horrified me. I had never heard of 'third-hand smoke,' but I learned about it on the show. Essentially, it's the tar and other carcinogens that cling to your clothes, hair, skin, etc., and can still harm those around you. Keep thinking about how that's going to affect your beautiful granddaughter, and it will help you stick to your guns.

Sara Strand said...

I'm glad you didn't die. That would have been unfortunate. :)

No- I never got your email!!! Now I'm even more paranoid! My NEW email is: sarastrand9438@hotmail.com . And it takes a lot to offend me! LOL!

And if you quit smoking I suggest taking Chantix. You might feel like a dog is chewing your leg when you sleep (according to my hubs) but it works. Both my mom and husband quit smoking this year doing it. They both managed AND neither seemed homicidal. :)

middle child said...

What kind of son do you have? He should have pulled you out across the ice in a sled.

The Reckmonster said...

JPT - first of all, happy belated birthday! 51 is the new 41 (I have it on good authority that whatever your birthday age is - you get to shave 10 years off of it and call it the "New Your Age Minus 10 yrs.") I say that because I'm turning 40 this year. LOL! And I am glad you survived that ill-ass winter activity BS. Doing anything outside in the winter is akin to having toenails pulled off sans pain meds, IMHO. And as far as the quitting smoking thing, I feel you. I go through phases of smoking, but I'm still technically a "non smoker." My current phase has been two years. But when I am ready, I just stop. Cold turkey. No aids. Just stop. And I'll stay "stopped" until I feel like I want to smoke again. This is one of my longer phases. I'm weird like that. But, when you do decide to quit, I'll wish you lots of positive thoughts! I know I always feel better when I quit.

Sandra said...

...ok, just so we're clear, I don't have to give you the "smoking is bad" speech...?

Sarahf said...

Glad you made it through alive. Good luck with quitting the ciggies.

Gail said...

Sounds like a glorious day, except for the huffing and puffing part.

When you are able to quit, let me know...that is a dream of mine for the future.

Sparkling Red said...

Go for it! At the very least, the quitting process will give you lots of blog fodder.