Fishergirl vs. Fisherman

Fishergirl.

Yesterday I was out fishing (yup, and I even bait my own hook!) with my parents, Dr. H and a friend of my Dad's. As my mom and I chatted about everything from "so and so's wedding" to the brilliance of THIS Greek dip, the gentlemen of our party couldn't help but joke about the differences between our genders. My Dad, often known to enjoy all day fishing excursions will come home after 4+ hours at sea with friends and say he had a great day. But when you ask what the group talked about, the answer is usually "nothing". "You don't know how his wife is doing or how their vacation to Europe was?" "Nope, it didn't come up." Hours together on a boat can spark no greater conversation than "will you pass me a soda?" "Sure." and "Thanks." It seems that men have an uncanny ability to sit in absolute silence for hours on end, enjoying one another's company while women would consider a day without conversation to be an indication that something is terribly wrong. 

While I can certainly appreciate a relationship so deep that there's no need for small talk, much of what I enjoy about time with girl friends is catching up and chatting about whatever random topics come to mind. Our male counterparts however, mysteriously create closeness in total silence, their mere mutual presence in a location being enough to make the day great.  It's crazy how different we can be. So you men go off and enjoy your silence, I'll stay here with the ladies and talk about how you all never seem to have anything you want to talk about.