A Place of Solitude

Everybody needs a place to get away to sometimes. Whether it's your own backyard or just a special place you like to go to when you need to be alone. I've got such a place. I discovered it a few years ago while driving around looking for a place to fish on my lunch break. This place is only about 10-minutes from the office where I work out in West Knoxville. I get an hour for lunch and I can zip down Pellissippi Pkwy, park my vehicle and walk just a few minutes to my special place. There's hardly ever anyone else there. In fact, I've never came across anyone else fishing in my spot. There's usually one or two folks that come out to walk around the nice walking track that is connected to my special place but they never bother me.

I've visited my special place 3-times this week. It's just been one of those stressful times and I've needed to get away. I carry fishing rods and tackle boxes in the trunk of my car and can wet a line at the drop of a dime. Every now and then I catch a nice one, LIKE THIS, but no such luck this week. Today, after fishing for about 30-minutes, I was packing up to go back to work and decided to cast my line out one last time. I had a yellow rooster tail  tied to a 3-lb test line, using a small light weight rod. I wasn't really expecting to catch anything other than perhaps a small bluegill. Much to my surprise, after casting out about 20-feet from the bank, something grabbed my line and pulled hard. I almost thought that I had gotten caught on a tree stump but after carefully releasing the drag, I soon discovered that there was a large fish on my line! I very gently began reeling it in towards me. Whatever it was, was not going to come in without a fight. I was trying to be very careful because I knew the line I was using was very weak. Slowly but surely I reeled my prize catch inward. Finally, about 3-feet from the bank the large fish broke the water. It was a Catfish that looked to be about 2-foot long. I held my breath and knelt down toward the waters edge, almost within reach of the fish. Suddenly, that blasted fish jerked sideways and snapped my line in two! I watched as my prize catfish quickly swam away with my yellow rooster tail stuck in his snout.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I didn't really care that I lost the fish. I was more upset that I had lost my favorite rooster tail. I made my way back to the car, threw my gear in the trunk and blasted off back down Pellissippi toward the office. My spirits were lifted and I felt I could make it through the rest of the day with no worries. It's amazing how just a little rest and relaxation in a place of solitude can help ease a weary soul.