Westward Ho!

We said our goodbyes to Home Depot and hightailed it out of Pennsylvania. We made a dash for the border and into Ohio.

Now that's a sentence I never thought I'd write.

The Spillway

Ironically I'm writing this in PA, having travelled back across the border to a place called The Spillway on Pymatuning Lake. A charming State Parks employee told us last night that there was a place nearby where ducks walked on fish and that it was pretty gross. How could we resist?

This is what she meant:

These are not hungry fish, these are greedy fish.

People buy stale bread by the crate and chuck it into the waiting gaping mouths of these carp, which seem to have a limitless capacity for consumption. The patient geese, ducks and gulls hover on the fringes, apparently wary of the feeding frenzy churning away in front of them.

Loaves and fishes...

It's obviously a family weekend destination, where kids get to see the wildlife.

Both of us found the whole thing slightly unnerving, and have to agree with the lady who first told us about it. It is pretty gross.

It takes about five seconds for a bun to vanish.

 We spotted a fishing trio, grandfather, son, and grandson. The father was standing a foot outside the chain marking the edge of the nursery section. Of course he soon had a bite, and the resultant catch was impressive, even if it wan't a huge surprise.

No fishing this side of the chain.

I mentioned to granddad the phrase "shooting fish in a barrel".
"You'd be surprised. It's a lot harder than you think."
Yeh, right.

One they'd caught earlier was gasping on the rocks in the mid-day sun.
"Don't you hit 'em on the head here?"
"Yeh, maybe we ought."
He started to look for a log.

I asked what they'd do with the fish.
"There are too many of them in the lake so they're contaminated and not very healthy. The state advises not to eat anything caught here. We'll put it on the garden as a fertiliser."

We left them to it.