To this day, I love being outside, going for hikes, reading in the sun and camping. Two of my favorite people love to fish and I love to spend time with them which means that I have begun fishing again. Honestly, the hardest part is still sitting silently and sometimes going the whole day not catching anything but a tree branch. I have learned to appreciate getting to enjoy the morning air and the sound of the water, intermittently disturbed by the yell of excitement when someone gets a fish and followed by the, “Take a picture, get the pliers, grab my net, or oh my gosh, look how pretty!” 

It’s frustrating and I’m still acquiring patience for it, but learning about the different kinds of fish and sharing in the joy of catching them is humbling. Taking keepers home and making dinner from something that you caught yourself is an exciting feeling. 

Fishing might not be your activity of choice, but I recommend going anyway. Spending the morning doing something with the people you love, even if the activity isn’t your first choice, is still going to make for a great start to the day. It’s the memory of it and the time spent outside getting out of your comfort zone and getting muddy and gross with your favorite people that you’ll remember. Don’t get stuck on not catching any fish that day or that you spent half the morning with your hook stuck in a tree. Go fish and go do it with your tribe because even if it's boring at times, it can’t be that bad when you’re spending time in the sunshine with the ones you love. 

Some of our favorite places locally:

• Mills River 
• Barnardsville 
• Cherokee 
• Greenville