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I've had this photo sitting here for a while but just lacked either the right paper or the inspiration to do it justice. It is truly the most gorgeous photo in real life. But for some reason this morning, after looking at this photo now for some weeks, it just all fell together and so here is "The Fisherman".




It brings back so many childhood memories for me of the time I spent with my Grandfather. He was an avid fisherman before his health began to fail. We spent many hours on the shores of Lake Colac (back in the days when it actually had water in it....) and also at various rivers and streams in the area. One of the most memorable fishing moments I recall, a particular night we went to a river and he was joking with me about catching eels and how I better not catch too many of them. In the end it was he who caught many eels and I who brought home the edible fish! I don't think we ever let him live it down.

Even though I was very young, I still remember the peaceful calmness of being in his company fishing. He was a tall, strong man of few words, but he had great patience with the small child who was constantly at his feet, and I always felt loved in his presence. I remember his secret cigarette stash, his tank of minnow for fish bait, and his incredible passion for growing plants from seeds. When I was a child, he worked at the local Bulla Cream Factory and all the employees would bring home a box of icypoles each week as a perk. I loved the Rainbow Chocs which they still make to this day. When he retired he grew vegetables & raised seedlings to sell at the plant nurseries, but always found time for fishing.

It's more than 20 years since he passed away, but he is still in my thoughts regularly.