Great Lakes 2018 Day 6

Without anything on the agenda, things started more slowly in the rental house, giving me some time alone.  I've said it 687 times before and I'll say it for the 688th, "Early mornings on vacation are the best."

While I was poking around, I also started to think about one of the quotes from Hillbilly Elegy:
"It was … 'a typical middle-class life.'  Kind of boring, by some standards, but happy in a way you appreciate only when you understand the consequences of not being boring." - JD Vance

While this pretty much describes growing up, it is interesting to see how the group of us diverged into exceedingly disparate directions over the last 20-some-odd years - starting out between that netherworld which hasn't ever existed and all of our bad decisions.
I headed out, down to the beach to watch the sunrise.  Waves gently lapped against the breakwall as the pinks turned to oranges and reds.  They had done some hillside trimming on the previous day, making the wet morning smell like that typical Midwest summer of cut Queen Anne's Lace.

In the northern latitudes sunrises and sunsets happen quicker near the spring and fall equinoxes.  Even though we're well over a month from the start of fall, it still seemed like once the sun made an appearance, it shot straight into the day.  The scene reminded me of 2010, when SO and I watched a similar sunrise only a few hours away in Alpena, and the worker grading the beach waited patiently before starting his day.

After the slow morning, a group of us went to a park in nearby Croswell.  The Croswell park is a really nice park on the Black River and has a huge swinging bridge across it.  I also thought it would be a good place for my youngest nephew to catch his first fish.
The bridge is called the swinging bridge for a reason, but looking at its construction, it looked massively overbuilt.

Once across we set up for some small fish fishing.  I got my brother going with my Nephew while I walked down the river a way to see if I could see any small panfish in the river.  I talked to one other guy fishing and he said that under the bridge was a good spot for bluegill and pumpkin seeds.

Back at the fishing crew we put in a few lines, I was using my pole with just a hook and found sinker right at the edge of the bridge abutment and saw a small fish come out and grab the worm - this might work.  I rebaited and dropped the line in again, and almost immediately a small bluegill grabbed the worm.  I got my nephew over and let him reel it in with the help of his mom.  Nephew thought the fish was pretty cool.

We tried for a little while longer and I hooked into a pumpkin seed of pretty respectable size.  Again, I had my nephew reel it in for a few pictures before releasing it.

Back at the house there was a slow afternoon as people played games, puzzles or walked the beach area.  It was a little a lot slow for me, but I guess a bit of down time isn't always a bad thing.

We went out for pizza for dinner before heading back to the house for more shenanigans.  My mom seemed very appreciative to have everyone together for a few days and it did seem like a good time was had by all.

Even if he is a little bit young, I was really geeked I was able to help my nephew catch his first fish.