Outdoors in RI: Catch the fishing bug young, losing best friends, upta camp, 2A heats up – Jeff Gross

by Jeff Gross, contributing writer

Children’s Fishing Derby

RI Fish and Game Protective Association (RIFGPA) and the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) co-hosted the annual June Family Day Children’s Fishing Derby in West Greenwich.  The event was again a great success, even Mother Nature cooperated for the most part, though it did start pouring with 10 minutes left in the Derby. The derby pond was stocked with healthy trout and the pond banks were lined with eager youngsters from all around the state of Rhode Island. Again, for at least the 2nd year in a row, the girls out-fished the boys, 5 to 1. Emmy Dias actually caught an eight-inch native brook trout. The colors on the brookie were beautiful. Great job, Emmy!  In a true New England Patriots fashion, when we had a dependable derby member go down with the flu, many RIFGPA members stepped up to fill his shoes.  My thanks and gratitude to all that lent a much-needed hand.

Photos: Credit Dave Lombari

(Wo)Man’s Best Friend – always gone too soon

Humans cannot obtain more love and devotion than from our beloved dogs. The warmth and kindness of our pups gives us reason to enjoy life even when all hell is breaking loose in the news.  Sadly, we all experience the loss of our pets as they are only with us a fraction of our human lives.  Some of you have experienced that loss recently, and my heartfelt sympathy goes out to you.  Some of you who lost your dearest friend try to hide the pain, but I see it in your eyes.  Humans are a species that is not meant to be alone.  God created man and woman for many reasons. That is why he also created our faithful dogs. Dogs fill our lives with great meaning.

Their antics give great enjoyment and entertainment whether it is retrieving a toy and bringing it back and then not allowing you to take it to throw again. Or when you are doing crunches and they come over and drop the ball on your chest to throw it. I did not know what a zoomie was until I had Haley, and then Jada.  Abby just started with them recently.  Abby adds her own flavor by running circles around me, growling as if “ha, ha, you can’t catch me”. From the moment dogs awake to the moment they go to bed, dogs are happy.  Humans could use a dose of the same – this writer included. This is why the loss is so painful and for many, hard to live with.

Many feel it is necessary to never own a dog again as it lessens the memories with the previous dog. A different perspective is to obtain a new pup to help fill the void of our lost companion. If our pups could talk, they would encourage you to love a new pet – not to replace them, but as a reminder of their beloved behavior and companionship. Just like humans, each dog has its own traits and way of thinking.  No, they may not be sentient beings, but they can think and communicate.  The new pups cause our lost pups to live on in spirit.  Our pets live to bring us happiness. Our lost pets will have great solace knowing that we have some happiness with a new pup. One can enjoy wonderful times like in the video below. Its a bird, no its a plane, NO its super dog:

Finding the right time to acquire a new best friend depends on the person. Each of us grieve differently. For this writer it took over 2 years to get over the loss of Haley. The loss of her antics of squealing when I would come home from work are greatly missed. To this day the emotional loss is strong, and effort is needed to hold it at bay. I awoke at 4:45 am Tuesday to write this to honor Chelsea, Haley and Jada and all of my dear, departed canines. The bond for all of them is still strong. When I couldn’t bring myself to remove Jada’s picture from my cell phone landscape, a dear friend suggested to keep it and place Abby on as a screen saver.  While some are afraid to care for a dog again as it changes them, the love of dogs is still there, and it shows. 

From Upta Camp

Dag’s Bait & Tackle Shop in Auburn, Maine has an excellent variety of bait. For you Rhode Islanders heading to Maine, Auburn is within striking distance of most Maine Waterways in central Maine, especially the Belgrade lakes area. We need to encourage support of small businesses.  Yes, you might pay a dollar more for an item, but these businesses are struggling under Build Back Broke and Bidomomics.  Another way to look at it is, at a small business you are checked out in less than 2 minutes.  At a chain store like I was forced to enter in Cranston, RI 10 days ago, there were only 3 registers open and 15 people in line at each register. I was forced to stand in line for 20 minutes. People were getting agitated by the wait.  My time is worth $150 per hour.  I’ll pay the extra $1 and be out in 2 minutes and in turn support a family business. 

2A Updates

The 4th non denial of the IL AWB & Mag Ban SCOTUS case occurred Monday, June 10th. The next conference happened Thursday, June 13th. The 13th was conference #5.  We will continue to monitor the Court as people are starting to get excited that SCOTUS may just take the case. Only time will tell, however a breaking news event will occur if it is in the gun owner’s favor. Also, on the 13th RI enacted mandatory forced gun storage. For the moment the bad actors in the RI State House won the battle. But did they really?  

Stay tuned…

Have a good week in the outdoors… Jeff

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Jeffrey “Jeff” Gross spent 21 years as an Analytical Chemist at the USCG R&D Center in Groton, Connecticut, Woods Hole Laboratories, and Helix Technologies. Changing careers is a “great learning experience for everyone”, Jeff says, and I’m an avid outdoorsman and conservationist, a student of the sciences, and the world. The US holds too many wonders not to take a chance and explore them”.

Jeff is the Model Train and Railroad entrepreneur. Proud Golden Retriever owner. Ultra strong Second Amendment Advocate and Constitutionalist. “Determined seeker of the truth”.  Jeff is a RIFGPA Legislative and Legal Officer, Freshwater Chairman, NRA Liaison.

His subjects include Outdoors, Second Amendment, Model Railroading, Commentary, and Whimsical. He can be reached at: [email protected].