Stepping Out into the Brightness

Stepping Out into The Brightness

The glamour of the beaming Sun’s rays danced across the footsteps of the front door, as he stepped out onto the driveway at the crack of dawn! After all, it is the first day of the summer solstice. The intensity of the sunshine beamed onto his body, on the hottest day of the year to date. Looking up at the beautiful cyan sky, through the linden tree limbs on his front yard, was like a silhouette of inspiration for the day.

Ray started to daydream as he headed towards his vehicle. Instantly he was transported to another world that is mystical and enchanting. This new world has three moons of different sizes hoovering over the planet. The skies have a magenta overtone in color. It felt like a eureka moment for him. He had found his utopia, a world that felt blissful. Five to ten minutes had passed, but for a brief moment he had been whisked away from all the hustle and bustle that was to follow this day. So, back to reality but what a beautiful Sunshiny day.

Now, Ray loaded his car with his fishing gear and his rod. Then loaded the canoe on top of the roof rack of his vehicle and tied everything down securely. He is meeting his friend Nigel at the GTO gas station on highway twenty-four. This is where they will be launching the canoe behind the gas station into the Grand River. Heading South down the river, five kilometers towards Paris, there is a honey hole which is a great spot for rainbow trout and steelhead fishing. They loaded up the canoe with all their fishing gear, rods and necessities that they would need.

As they paddled down the river, for about five to ten minutes, the beautiful blue sky started to turn grey. Out of the blue, it began to rain buckets. There was a tiny island in the middle of the river, that had an enormous willow tree overhanging into the water. This is where they found shelter from the rain. It was a steady downpour for about an hour. Luckily, they came prepared with their rain gear. Once the rain had sub-sided, they continued their journey down the Grand River. About half an hour later, an elegant rainbow appeared like a ginormous arc over the water. It had all the colors of the prism, red, blue, green, yellow, orange, indigo and violet. This arc is like a bridge over the river into an enchanted land full of phenomenon. Ray was day dreaming again, and they had to paddle to their honey spot soon. Nigel knew this because after a rainfall it is the prime time to fish. The fish are stirring in the gloomy water looking for food and going to the top to catch bugs. Finally, they arrived at their honey hole destination, now time to get their fishing rods ready with the right bait for rainbow trout. Worms are usually good bait to use; Ray fished on one side of the canoe and Nigel on the other side of the canoe. They both had fishing licenses just in case they were caught fishing without one. You could lose all your fishing gear and pay a hefty fine.

Ray cast his rod out first, followed by Nigel. They both did this for about an hour with no luck. So, they decided to start jigging with fake worms, but Nigel used a shiny eerie dearie fishing lure with a fake worm. Turned out to be a beautiful day for fishing except for the down pour earlier. They talked about renting a boat and going further north, near Bobcaygeon and fishing on Buckhorn Lake later in the summer. Then all of a sudden, Nigel got a bite and hooked his fish and pulled it out of the water. Nigel had caught a thirty-eight-centimeter rainbow trout weighing one and a half kilograms, which is fifteen-inches and three pounds. This is a great catch for Nigel and Ray congratulated him. About twenty minutes later, Ray got his first bite, a steelhead fish. It was a little bit bigger than Nigel’s catch. Ray’s catch was about forty-one centimeters and weighed two kilograms, which is sixteen inches and four pounds. Nigel gave Ray a high-five. They had helped each other out by netting their catches. Then, putting them on hooks and into a bucket of water in the canoe.

For a good part of the morning, they continued to fish. There is also a bicycle trail, that goes along the shoreline of the Grand River. It is about ten feet up from the river’s edge and also starts back behind the GTO gas station. The bike trail is nine kilometers long and goes right into Paris, Ontario. Nigel and Ray kept paddling down the river to check out some other fishing spots, when they noticed a group of bikers on the bike trail. Now the rainfall had made the bank of the shoreline mucky and slippery. The group of six bikers rode single file on the bike trail and were clipping along quickly. Suddenly, the last biker, who was female, experienced a wobble in her front wheel, lost control and went down the shoreline into the water. The other bikers hadn’t noticed what had happened to Heather and continued biking on the trail. Ray and Nigel saw the whole episode happen in front of their eyes. In astonishment, they immediately swung the canoe around and quickly paddled towards the young female in distress.

Heather was shaken up, but not injured and she was very lucky. Nigel yelled out to the other bikers to come back and they did. Also, much to Heather’s surprise her mountain bike wasn’t damaged either. She cleaned herself off, as well as her bike. Now, she could continue the bike journey with the others. The bike group all thanked Nigel and Ray for noticing and coming to her rescue. Heather especially thanked both of them for coming to her aid. The group proceeded on their bike journey down the trail to Paris. Ray and Nigel also continued paddling on their fishing adventure along the Grand River. After all, it turned out to be a beautiful sunshiny day for fishing and helping out a damsel in distress.

© By, Michael Milicevic