No Kool-Aid Drinker Left Behind

Howdy. I can’t believe we finally had a nice weekend at the farm in game-rich Andes, deep in Catskill country. Too bad we spent a good part of it in the car, as we had to leave the farm after just two days to attend a family function in La Plata, Md. Still, before we left, Cowboy Luke had some fun at the pond. I rigged up his first fishing rod with and old-school, single-action fly reel, float, and barbless hook.

For bait, I had these ultra-realistic plastic earthworms. We have abundant bass and bluegills (aka bream, sunfish, pumpkinseeds) in the pond, and I had our first sunfish in no time. Luke wanted to touch it. Then I let him kiss the fish on the nose before we released the colorful little guy.

The bluegills are getting ready to spawn, it will be fun to watch and track them through the process. They’re gorgeous, too; so pretty you could convince someone that they’re an endangered reef fish, when in reality they’re as common as dandelions.

An update on TW’s coverage of the French Open: I will be blogging intermittently during this first week. I’m going to keep my posts brief and – hopefully – highly interactive, so we can all kind of cover this event together.

This is partly because I have a few Tennis magazine stories to write and/or edit before I leave for Paris, and also because we’re changing offices and I have to get all my junk packed for the big move. So things will be hectic for a few days.

I arrive in Paris on Sunday morning, and will be blogging ASAP. Also, Steve Tignor, who writes The Wrap, will be in Paris as well for Week 2. He’ll be focusing on the X’s and O’s, and providing detailed, interpretive summaries of the action – think of it as The Daily Wrap, while I take you on the usual psychic bus tour through the enchanted and sometimes scarily colorful land of Tennis. No Kool-Aid drinker will be left behind – for better or worse!