Warm March days attract fishermen to the ice covered shore of Lake Superior as surely as the longer daylight hours attracts the trout swimming under the ice to the mouth of the river. It is a ritual of springtime in the Northland and a sure sign that winter is losing it's grip on the area.These fishermen set up their portable fish houses near the mouth of the French River and basked in the warm afternoon sunshine. I didn't see any fish caught, but, I don't think anyone really cared. It seems funny how someone can be so relaxed, sitting on a plastic bucket with a fishing rod staring at a hole in the ice, yet, they seemed to have found a secret that works better than any high blood pressure medicine, its called contentment.
Although cars could be heard in the distance speeding along the highway in a seemingly frantic rush, this little cove of fishermen seemed to live in an unhurried world of their own, a special place that only a few could recognize as a medicine for the rush of life on a road less traveled.
In just a few weeks, the river will swell with runoff from the melting snow and the lake ice will back away from the shore, setting the stage for another change of seasons.
Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, told us about contentment long ago: Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind. Ecc 6:9
I drove home a bit wiser that day, learning a lesson from a little fishing cove on Lake Superior and some men who find contentment with the simpler things of life.
Posts
