Beyond the silver rainbow: The early bird..

It's Sunday morning, 5.40am. My alarm goes off and I get up. The night before my wife and I arrived from Chincoteague Island at midnight and I went to sleep at 1.00am. I'm tired. But I gotta get up. My ride is arriving at ten past six and the weather forecast predicts 0% chance of rain or clouds. That's enough motivation to leave the cosy bed. A hot&cold shower wakes me up quickly and a berry&milk bowl for breakfast pumps energy in my body.

Last week during the football match I met most of my wife's university program. A bunch of 20 people from India, Argentina, Morocco, Mexico, South Africa, Singapore, Israel and one from Finland. I love the diversity and enjoy getting to know many new persons and their cultures. One woman from Singapore brought her family. I got into a discussion with her husband E Pei about sports, electronics, the usual guys stuff. Fishing is one of his passions. I like it too, especially on a boat. We agreed to go someday out on Chesapeake Bay. Last Wednesday E Pei sent me a text, let's go on Sunday. Ok, done deal.

I pack the sandwiches and other snacks into a backpack. A rain jacket, a change of clothes, my camera and I'm good to go. E Pei is already downstairs waiting. Being lazy I take the elevator down and get in the car. His son Jonathan is also joining us. He loves fishing. A fifty minute ride from College Park to Shady Side takes us through a wonderful countryside. Morning mist lies over the meadows, some deer search for food and nice houses are surrounded by trees with colorful leaves. Autumn is not too far away.

At the dock, the morning air is brisk and the last bit of tiredness leaves my body. Our captain awaits us already and behind the tree line I catch a glimpse of the rising sun. After a lecture of very detailed safety instructions we are off into the open water. Dozens of boats and houses decorate the shore. Bay Bridge Maryland, which we crossed last night, is on the horizon. Our ride is fast and the wind works its way through my clothes. It's chilly.

We reach the first pack of birds which are circling the water to catch their morning breakfast. Those small fish are bait for the big boys at the bottom and we are after them. I watch Jonathan and E Pei pulling in fishes. Finally I get lucky as well, but none of our catches meets the 18 inch requirement to keep them. So it's all catch and release today, back in the water for all of them.

We follow the birds and other fishing boats, but all big fish stay out of our way. It's time to change the location and ride to another spot in the Bay. In the meantime the sun is warming up nicely. The sea is calm, the only waves coming from other fishing boats. It's just a perfect morning.

After four hours we return to the dock. No catch, I should have known. The saying goes: The early bird catches the worm. Not big fish.. It really doesn't matter, this is great morning to remember for a life-time. We drive back to College Park. Jonathan is tired and lays down on the back seat. Only ten seconds and he's out. Happily, but tired I go back to our apartment. My cosy bed is waiting to offer me a well deserved nap.