Fishing From The Dock Coffee Share

Good Morning, Everyone

It is simply lovely here on the south shore of Long Island. Cool crisp days lend themselves to watching birds in the yard and pleasant sleeping weather. We haven’t turned the heat on, yet. The house dust and windows could use a cleaning, but, nah, I’d rather sip my coffee and spend time with you. 

Pour your brew. Let’s catch up.

If we were having coffee together, I would admit that my family continues to cling to summer fun. We don’t have a date to pull the boats, and the tomatoes are still ripening on their vines. We had a Fishing From the Dock yesterday morning. My sister’s and nieces’ family and friends with little kids arrived at my mom’s backyard to fish off the dock just as dawn broke. Rumor had it that blowfish and perhaps weakfish could be schooling close to the docks early in the morning. 

Matt got his poles ready the night before, woke up very early, and pulled the small cooler of bait from the garage freezer. I waited for the bakery to open, and brought crumb cake and croissants to add to the bagel, hot chocolate, and mimosa breakfast. 

The wind lay still and the morning colors gloriously painted the eastern horizon. The tide was perfect. After a short time, the group of little boys grew distracted with a ball, hot chocolate, epic games of hide and seek, and climbing a tree. The young dads, Matt, and my brother-in-law, Bill, continued to cast onto the bay, hoping to catch anything. The big catch of the day was a whelk, fuzzy from algae. It actually took the bait and hook! After careful inspection and ooh-ing and ah-ing, we threw it back. No one wanted to cook it. 

If we were having coffee together, I would reminisce about fishing off the dock. When I was a kid, blowfish were abundant in the Great South Bay. My dad and uncles spent more time baiting hooks with clam strips and shiners than holding a pole. The best part about catching blowfish was watching them puff up their prickly bodies as a defense against predators and curious kids. They were, however, delicious! 

My daughters, nieces and nephew also hold wonderful memories fishing from the dock. Blowfish were a little more scarce, but snappers jumped and frothed the surface as they attacked schools of small baitfish. When the line cast into the middle of the frenzy, bobbers sank and reels pulled in feisty snappers. Proud dad moments occurred when kids could remove the fish from the hook, re-bait, and cast back out without help. 

Of course, there was a lot of downtime. Fish aren’t that predictable. It was easy for kids to get distracted with a ball sitting in the yard, a tree to climb, and a game of hide-and-seek.    

We also fished for bigger game in the Great South Bay and ocean. Those trip involved boats, another variable in the pursuit of fun, and story(ies).

If we were having coffee together, I would report that The Wishes of Sisters and Strangers Book 3 will launch on November 7th. I have Advanced Reader’s Copies (ARC), you can download here. All I ask in return is for an honest review. You can post on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and/or your Goodreads account on launch day. I will keep you in the loop as we get closer to November 7th. 

SO, how was your week? I hope it was Funtastic!

That’s it! Time for a coffee refill.

Great BIG Thanks and appreciation go out to Natalie the Explorer who keeps the Weekend Coffee Share percolating.

Have a good week, Everyone. Make it Funtastic!

Enjoy ❤️.   Like 👍.  Share 😊. 

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