The (Fishing) Kids Are Alright

On Thursday afternoon, I went fishing at Lions Park in St. Paul Park for the first time. The park is on the shore of the Mississippi River, a few miles downstream from Pig's Eye Lake. It's not the nicest part of the Mississippi, a bit of an industrial area. Since I was coming from karate, I brought my lunch along. While sitting at a picnic table, eating my ham and turkey sandwich, 3 young men (late teens, one Hispanic, an African-American, and one white) came to fish and grill a lunch. We chatted briefly and I offered them the picnic table since it was by the grill. I went to the beach area to continue fishing while they grilled. After a few minutes, they called over and offered me a hot dog. Very nice. I declined but it sure made me smile. And farther down the shoreline, another pair of teens were peacefully fishing the day away.

Later, I saw another group of youths, probably early 20's, sitting in the middle of the park. Looked like a study group of some kind, maybe practicing a reading for a play. Good to see all of these kids enjoying a warm summer day out in the park.