The Biting Black Flies Perspective
Today, I spent my first moments ever on Lake Michigan. This immense body of fresh water separates Michigan from Wisconsin, with the great city of Chicago situated below. Samantha and I went with my daughter Kelly and her husband Brian over to Benton Harbor, MI and spent a day on the water aboard the Sea Hawk. Our goal was to return with a limit catch of salmon and trout. Captain Russ and his mate Donnie were super nice and we have an idyllic day; lots of sun, a nice breeze and calm waters. The method of fishing is trolling and boy have things changed since the days I went trolling with my grandfather down in South Florida! Check out how many rods this boat can have out at one time:
Well, as I like to say, “nothing exceeds like excess …”.
We had a great day. We didn’t catch our limit but we caught 6 nice sized lake Trout and 2 King Salmon. We did have one Steelhead Trout hooked but failed to boat this fish. According to the intelligence from the radio, we did as well or better than most other boats fishing Lake Michigan this day. In fact, there was only one thing that was really chapping us, biting black flies. I really don’t mind black flies all that much; we had a ton of them always around growing up near West Palm Beach Florida. But those flies didn’t bite. The Lake Michigan flies were biting and once we were trolling, the speed of the boat was so slow that the flies were swarming at will.
We started attacking them with our hands and hats and we picked off quite a few. But we didn’t seem to be making much of a dent in the Sea Hawk fly population on this day. Then we learned that the flies actually hatch on the water. Oh, and that killing them actually attracts more. Perfect! So we just swatted and danced around the boat until it was time to head in. The flies seemed to instinctively know that if they flew around while the boat was underway, that they would get swept behind, so they mostly just stayed put on the side of the boat.
The flies did get me thinking about the crews of the Grafton and Invercauld stuck on Auckland Island for months on end back in 1864. While the summer months were warm enough, every living thing was covered by biting black flies.
The journals of Captain Musgrave and Francois Raynal of the Grafton describe the agony that the shipwreck survivors were in dealing with these black flies. It was difficult to get any work done and hardly anything could deter the flies from attacking every exposed skin surface. Really, the journal descriptions are so horrific, it really made me think of the 50 or so flies that we had to deal with on Lake Michigan as so insignificant. How amazing the things we choose to complain about. When we realize the real trouble and strife those less fortunate than us have to deal with, it brings a perspective that helps us to stay Grounded.
Think of the things that you feel are true nuisances and then add some perspective. Is the situation really that bad? Are you overreacting to a situation that really doesn’t warrant that level of complaining?