My recent pictures of the water in the river are like those sunrise or sunset images people post when they go fishing and don't catch. It's May 2nd and I haven't caught a striped bass, or any other fish, to kick off 2026. I've went about a dozen times, if that, and most have been an hour or less of a half-hearted effort.
Yesterday morning I hit a plumbing road block which really set me back at least a day. While trying to remove a muskrat-like hairball from deep in the bowels of the waste line I put a hole in the brass waste pipe that sits below the shower drain. So that means another hole in the ceiling and then trying to patch it as replacing it would call for a closet and hallway to be dismantled. So one my way to Home Depot for some JB Weld, which didn't work in the end I took the much needed mental health break and hit the river.
It was mid-day, high bright sun and the mid-flood tide. The water was low, as it has been, running about 15,000 cfs, which was better than it has been. With gin-clear water it would have been easy to spot any herring swimming upstream but I saw none. And needless to say I didn't catch a fish. What I did enjoy was watching the turtles get chased off their sunning rock perches as the tidal water pushed in. They would move to the tippy top of the rocks, sometimes balancing with their feet in the air, only to give up when the water hit the bottom of their shells. The cormorants were out numbered by the gulls who split their time between the river and the land fill which is only a short flight away.
On the way back from Hilton Head when I was in the co-pilots seat I spent some time looking for my next ride. At this point, with the yard cleaned up and the mulch picked up from the recycling center, I don't need my Silverado war wagon anymore. As I searched I thought I found my next ride. It's was a 2003 GMC Yukon Denali with 176,000 miles. I said I wouldn't buy another old vehicle but those years, 2002-2004 are my sweet spots when it comes to Chevy's and GMC's.
So my plan was to get to Elizabeth for their 9 am opening yesterday morning. But at 5 am I checked their website and they sold it out from under me. I had been back and forth with the salesman and was good to go. I was either going to send the mortgage in a few days late, throw the pick-up on Marketplace, and hope that this mornings live video with some train collectors from Syracuse would add to the pot. But, you know what they say, you snooze you lose. It was a really nice ride and I thought she was mine. Another one that got away. It was in white too, which is my go to color, and will help repel that nuclear sun down in the Lowcountry.
Back to the grind today. We're getting close to listing it and we still haven't signed on the dotted line with the realtors yet. The thought of donating $45,000 in real estate commissions just kills me, especially in these times were the internet, and Zillow, are what people cruise around when looking for a house. Hopefully those "Coming Soon" signs I have out front will bring an early buyer, and this pretty weekend will bring a ton of people driving past heading to Lambertville and New Hope, and our own towns town-wide yard sale. Enjoy the nice weather today and go fishing.