We heard the snowmobile round the corner of our ice-fishing hut and as it slowed, some quiet profanity was uttered into the crisp air. The three of us silently giggled inside. The man and his son who ran this place out in Haliburton had just discovered our catch and were obviously shocked. The truth was, so were we.
Hilary, the ever-loving adventurer of the family, had convinced us, out of the blue, to go ice-fishing for the weekend. Us, who were girly, us, who were moms of babes and one of us pregnant. Yes, us. We never had so much fun in our lives and I'll never forget how those men skidoo'ed us out to the middle of the lake with homemade sticks with string attached and basically bid us good luck. We spent a couple of hours of taking photos of each other on the ice (tripod included), eating and drinking, and imagining actual fish tugging on our lines through the small, rectangular-cut hole below our makeshift wooden benches. We told stories, like all good fishermen and laughed until we almost... well, the only thing that sisters can make you do when you laugh really hard--a lot.
We were suddenly surprised to feel a few tugs and when that big fish (humongous to us) shot past the hole in the ice, I straddled the opening and plunged my arms into the icy water and grabbed it with my bare hands. I lifted the slimy, cold body out of the lake and started screaming. Then Holly did too. Nothing could match our satisfaction. We dashed outside the hut and quickly took photos of ourselves. What a victory! What a success! Then we placed it on the ice at the corner of the hut and admired. I remember suddenly feeling sorry for it and wondering if we should drop it back into it's watery home. My sisters wouldn't have it. That was coming home with us for dinner!
The long drive home gave us much time to record all of the hysterical moments we encountered that weekend: a little jaunt in a bookstore, reading to each other in the hotel room. We listed new "isms" we had created and sayings only the three of us would ever understand. We lost those notes years ago but the memories and closeness that developed was stronger than ever. Our bond is tight and I praise God for my fabulous sisters. Ice-fishing, anyone? I'm up for it again :)
