Embracing Summer and This Week’s Idiom

Fishing, Idioms, Reflections, Summer

Hello and welcome!

Our idiom of the week is hold one’s feet to the fire.

The free dictionary.com tells us that to hold one’s feet to the fire means:

To put pressure on one to do, say, or consent to something or To pressure (someone) to consent to or undertake something.

while weird facts.com says it means:

To hold one accountable for a commitment, make good on a promise.

They also tell us that the origin of the phrase pertains to torture used during the Crusade’s. As a method for extracting confession for heresy, non-believers were positioned in a manner that allowed the inquisitor to apply flames to the feet of the accused. This was done until the accused confessed or died.

As ridiculous as that method of obtaining a confession seems by today’s standards, consider a modern parallel – plea bargaining. The accused is offered the choice between a reduced sentence in exchange for a confession, or prosecution with the risk of more severe penalty (possibly death).

I choose this phrase because I feel like my husband has been “holding my feet to the fire”. Ever since my last post where I vowed to embrace the good weather while we have it, he has been reminding me and encouraging me to take some time off each day to do the things I really enjoy: ride the 4-wheeler, spending time with the kids and grandkids and fishing.

It is easy for me to get caught up in the work that needs to be done. Things like staining the deck and power washing the house are also activities that need to be done when the weather is nice, so I am thankful for his subtle reminders: “go ride your bike” or “put that away for today, let’s go fishing.”

We hadn’t done any fishing this summer until last week. However the pair of green herons that spend summers at the farm arrived in sometime in July, as they do every year, and had been enjoying daily meals at the pond. They are largely camouflaged along the ponds edge, as you can see in the photo below, but they make their presence known when they squawk and fly up into one of the surrounding trees as someone approaches the pond. They seem a bit disgruntled over the interruption.

It was about two weeks ago that my husband asked me to help him store the boat for the winter. I agreed but suggested that we needed to do some fishing first. A couple days later my husband came home with a few dozen worms and said “lets go fishing”. 🙂

While our green herons may be eating a lot of the small fry that swim up near shore my husband and I have caught some real whoppers. I’m sorry I don’t have any fish photos but I have decided that taking my camera in the boat is not really a good idea. You’ll just have to decide for yourself if this is a fish tale (bonus idiom) or I’m telling the truth (I am).

We have spent several evenings over the last week out in our little paddle boat baiting our hooks and casting them into the pond and to date the fish we have caught include a 18 inch (45.72cm) walleye, another large walleye that we did not get a chance to measure, a 17 inch (43.18 cm) pike and an 11 inch (27.94 cm) perch (who has been caught several times). We have also caught some 6 and 7 inch perch and lots of small fry (2-4 inch), which we always take as a good sign because if there are little ones that means the big ones are reproducing.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day!

Have you ever had anyone hold your feet to the fire?

17 thoughts on “Embracing Summer and This Week’s Idiom”

    1. Thanks for the well being check Linda. My husband’s father passed away last Thursday. He has been ill for quite a while. My husband has been busy settling his affairs and I doing whatever I can to support him. Mostly I just haven’t felt much like writing.

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  3. The few and far between cooler days make you want to play hooky from all chores, just like you do on the first nice day in Spring when you cast off your coat and feel the warm sun on your face. As I write this I prepare to shut down the computer because it is rocking and rolling out there again, so I’m glad for clear and dry days that are unmarred by rain and storms to go gallivanting to the Park. There’s no one around to hold my feet to the fire anymore and I often don’t push myself hard enough. Weeds and dust. 🙂

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  4. What a great post, Ruth. It is so easy to get totally caught up with farm/garden/house work isn’t it? I am happy you took time off! What great fish y’all have caught. Our pond is too small. We do have a green heron that resides between our pond and our neighbors. Such fun to have a paddleboat!

    Blue Rock Horses Frederick County, Virginia bluerockhorses.com

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  5. I am glad he reminds you to take a break now and then. Self care is as important as tasks , but alot harder to accomplish. Just remember to take time to smell the roses ( lol)

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