by Would you believe it? This morning I caught a real, living, breathing fish. I’d been out there less than ten minutes when a sudden tug on my line sent my adrenalin racing, just like all those years ago when I had a monster hand in a big pot. This was hardly a monster fish – it was about four inches long – but still. After I took the photo I promptly put little fishy back in the water. I think it was a caras, or a type of carp. I’ll check with one of my students who is a keen fisherman and, conveniently, should be showing up in around 45 minutes. The fish was near the edge of the water and I only had two maggots on the hook. I carried on for about two hours and didn’t get another bite, but it was nice just being out there, watching the snakes of various sizes and colours, and the dragonflies that appeared to change colour from green to blue.
Dad sent me pictures of two paintings he did of Mercury Palace (below), a building on the corner of Piața Traian, not far from Piața Badea Cârțan, where I often get my fruit and vegetables. The statue is of Mercury, the Roman god of commerce and prosperity. With the building being 109 years old and otherwise in a state of disrepair, it’s surprising that the statue has survived intact. I’m really pleased that Dad decided to make that view, which is now very familiar to me, into a painting. Even though it’s right up his street, who in New Zealand would buy a painting of Romania? Some of the Romanians based in Ashburton, perhaps? It’ll be interesting to see if it sells, or even if he attempts to sell it.
When I saw the Red Sox three years ago, I had no trouble getting a ticket. That’s mainly because the team weren’t doing very well. The next two seasons they were much improved but made no inroads in the play-offs. This year has been a different story; they’ve been absolutely killing it, and are likely to finish with a win rate of close to 70%. In a sport as finely balanced as baseball, that’s very high indeed. Last night they had a rare loss however, even though Mookie Betts hit for the cycle – single, double, triple and home run in some order or another, all in one game. That’s an unusual feat because four hits in one game is no simple achievement in itself, and triples are very hard to come by. Also last night, there was a crazy reverse-order team cycle, where the Seattle Mariners’ first four batters in the first inning hit a home run, a triple, a double and a single, in that order.
