Fishing at Tyler State Park - Wouldn't you really rather have a Packard? - Making Pickles

A  long time ago when I lived in San Francisco, I went out to the rocky shore and watched some people fish. When one of them caught a fish and it was jerking on the end of the line, I turned away in sadness. I couldn't bear to see the little fellow losing his life on the end of the line.

I guess every life must come to an end. Here's the little fish I caught yesterday at Tyler State Park. I'll never forget the THRILLING FEELING of the tug on the end of the line.

I went with my friends Yin and Patrick Cox who live in Montgomeryville.

We were guided by young Andy Desko, Education Specialist of the PA Fish and Boat Commission and  volunteer Jim.

Under the shade of one of the pavilions, Andy gave us lessons on safety and manners, knot tying, how to hold a fishing pole which is so long you've gotta be careful not to poke anyone.

Here's the bank of the Neshaminy Creek where we fished. There were LOADS of fish waiting underwater and hiding in the rocks which went deep into the water.

Yin, originally from China, was a natural angler. It seemed like every time she cast, she caught something.

Casting is tricky but I finally learned the hang of it.

I caught more than half-dozen fish but would lose them when reeling them toward shore.

I'll never forget the feel of the fish tugging at the end of the line, then reeling it in to find NOTHING on the end.

Jim threaded the worms onto my hook and also unhooked the few fish that I did catch.

Jim shows me my fish. We threw all of em back in the water. When a fish caught on my hook, here's what Jim would say to me:

Reel it in a little, now jerk! When you jerk you're making sure the fish won't escape the hook. Still, it's possible the fish can get away.

Jim was a great teacher. He didn't make me feel bad about my occasional lousy casts or when I 'jerked' the fish so hard the entire fishing line came onshore, with no fish attached.

On my way home from Tyler, I stopped for gas at Ron Farber's ARCO in Southampton. I could not believe my luck that I had my camera handy so I could photograf this white-walled Packard automobile. Didn't know it was a Packard till I looked at the photo at home and blew it up.

From Wiki:

Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last in 1958. 

How old were YOU when the last Packard was made in 1958? I was 12 and then as now loved cars. I remember a Jaguar sports car parked on our street back in Cleveland.

I ran outta my house real fast - we lived on Glenmore Road - and I fell on the sidewalk. Can you blame my haste? What a car.....

Did you know there's a Packard Building on Broad Street in downtown Philadelphia? One day when I was attending grad school at Hahnemann, I had time between my classes. I began to explore and came upon this luxury apartment building.

Instead of demolishing this grand old Packard automobile showroom, they transformed it into this building. I used to visit it often.

Nothing like a delicious crisp pickle, right?

Scott and I grew cucumbers and I reserved three of em for pickling. We also have a couple of green tomatoes which I also pickled.

Instead of canning the pickles, I found a recipe from the Christian Science Monitor where you simply immerse the pickling items in a bath of vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic and pickling spices for 24 hours.

Here's the liquid I poured over the pickles in a huge jar.

I let it pickle in the fridge for 24 hours. They have a great crunch, good flavor and are fun to look at. "You mean I did all this?" I ask myself.

Am listening now to Ravel's Concerto for Left Hand on the radio. He wrote it after WWI, when a pianist had his right arm shot off in the war.

Leon Fleisher, renowned pianist, is performing it right now. Fleisher, born in 1929, lost the ability to play with his right hand in the 1960s due to intense pain that was later diagnosed as focal dystonia.

Through Botox injections and Rolfing, he regained his ability to play.

He's very active today making up for lost time. Many of these grand masters such as Rubenstein and Vladimir Horowitz and R.H. Lokoff play well into their octogenarian years.