“Es-ca-pay? I wonder what that means?”
Fellow fans of Disney’s Finding Nemo will get that reference. For the rest of you, do yourself a favor and watch the movie as it’s a good one. But I didn’t come here today to talk about movies, maybe I’ll do that another day. For now, let’s talk about escaping the madness.
I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of the oversaturation of news on the coronavirus, COVID-19, Chinese Flu, or whatever the heck it’s being called today. It’s on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, fishing message boards, your weekly editor’s log right here, and I receive daily texts and emails on the subject; it never ends. I don’t watch the news on TV these days (not that I ever really did) as I’m all set with the propaganda and sensationalism that has taken over there, but I now go out of my way to avoid it. Instead I want an escape; some way I can continue to live my life in as close of a manner to how I always have as possible. Before you get too worked up, I realize that things are serious and precautions must be taken, I acknowledge that, but if I sat back and let this speedbump consume my life in the way it has others, I’d be the next one on the evening news as part of a story on a local man who was hauled off to the hospital for psychiatric help.
Fishing has always been my escape, and it remains as such. Building on that, I don’t like seeing or reading my fishing consumables watered down with virus talk. I’m happy to pass along the happy news like when trout season opened early in Connecticut or the Golden Trout Promotion was extended to September in Rhode Island. I will also pass along warnings and words of advice regarding social distancing requirements, but I’ve had more than I can take of the doom and gloom talk.
And what of this social distancing? Heck, I’ve been practicing that for as long as I can remember by the simple act of fishing! Some people are content to stand in a crowd along the bank of the Canal, or elbow to elbow on a crowded party boat, but not me! Walk up too close to me in the surf and you’re going to experience a far different person than you expected. I hate to pass judgment on how others extract enjoyment from a pastime, but for me if you need to fish in a crowd so that others can see what you caught, then you have bigger problems to be dealt with.
If you couldn’t already guess, lately I have found myself needing that escape even more so than normal. I have worked from home for the past six-plus years, so nothing has changed there, but now with my wife and son home fulltime as well, I make it a point to get out and fish (usually with my son in tow) on any evening when the weather allows for it. So far it has been mostly trout on the menu for us, but soon enough I’ll be heading back out into the surf each night in search of striped bass.
So if you see me out there fishing, be sure to keep some distance between us. While the government recommends at least 6 feet, I’d suggest even more.
