I wish to send my warm regards to all "Fishing With Dad" friends and family who are celebrating Easter Week and Passover.
It's hard to believe that Spring has arrived after seeing the weather yesterday. We awoke in Willow Street, Pa. to snow covered lawns and roadways. I had my Monday PT session to attend and we found the roads to be wet and somewhat slushy in spots, but easy to drive.
This is the last week for my current PT, Diane, at "Advantage Physical Therapy". Diane and her husband are uprooting and moving to Colorado to further their careers in Physical Therapy and be close to the Rocky Mountains where they can snowboard to their hearts' content. I wish them all the luck in the world as they begin this new journey in life. I hate to see Diane go since over the past month we have established a professional relationship. But I will quickly build a new one with yet another PT.
I had an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Wm. Parrish, this morning. He was very pleased with my progress and wrote another script for more PT sessions. His staff also took several x-rays of my replacement knee and he was happy with what he saw... Cool Beans!
Dr. Parrish feels that as the left knee swelling subsides, my knee will give way and extend even further than the -12 degrees it is now showing. Before this recent surgery, the knee extension was only holding at -20 degrees and I walked with a severe limp. I have high hopes that I'll be able to get the knee extension down to possibly -5 degrees or so before PT ends.
I will see Dr. Parrish in another six weeks and I'll give you all an update at that time.
I received an email from my cousin, Laura, late last evening. She informed me that her mother, my Aunt Pat, is scheduled soon for open heart surgery. If you can find it in your hearts, please say a prayer or two to help Aunt Pat face her upcoming surgery and guide the hands of her surgeons. Aunt Pat's husband, Uncle Jim (my mom's second to youngest brother), died this passed year. Fortunately, Aunt Pat has two of my aunts living nearby in New Bern, North Carolina to be with her.
We had three of my mom's extended families migrate to New Bern from Queens, NYC for their retirement years. All my uncles have past and we now only have three aunts remaining in New Bern and one in New Jersey. Time flies by so quickly and we have lost so many aunts and uncles in the past few years.
There were twelve brothers and sisters in my mom's family. All are gone except for my Aunt Ginnie, the youngest of them all. I have fond memories of traveling by train to NYC with my mom and two older brothers over the summer months and spending time traveling from relative to relative in order to see all my maternal relatives. I used to joke about how parents in NYC would send their children to Lancaster County through the "Fresh Air Kids" program. Here was my mom taking us three boys into the Big Apple for our summer months among all the smog, heat, and millions of people... "Ahhhh, the good ole' days!" :)
I got a couple new pictures from my fishing buddies, Jeff B (CHRGD) and Penny. They hit the water on Sunday before the big snowstorm made it into town. They were able to catch a variety of fish, including largemouth, walleye, several smallmouths, and a Quillback. It's always fun to have a multi-species day on the river.
"Hey, that's not a smallie!" ... LOL!
"Great looking walleye, Penny! But you're looking way too serious."
Jeff reported that the Susquehanna River water temperature was holding at 40 degrees and the water at the mouths of the local creeks were holding in the low 50's. Folks, it's like prime time, for sure!
Jeff Little reported this weekend that, although there were still small fish in the wintering holes, most of the larger smallies have now moved to staging areas outside spawning grounds. If you are heading out in search of the "Bigger Mammas", now is the time to seek those staging locations.
Good luck in your pre-spawn smallie adventures!
Take Care and Be Safe!
Dad
