I was fifteen years old when I decided I wanted to be Bonnie Abbzug when I grew up. This is also when I learned about feminism. When I started dreaming about living in an airstream, in the mountains, not tied down to anything. When I first learned of the American Southwest. And, when I decided, that one day I would blow up a dam. I was fifteen years old when I first read The Monkey Wrench Gang.
Read moreThe Next Valley Over
"The majority of anglers who travel to fish are by nature either pastoralists or nomads."
-Charles Gaines
Meaning that while we're all there for the same reason, you've got those that are happy to stay in the "designated" waters and those that are always looking towards The Next Valley Over.
Read moreFishing Small Streams
"I guess it's the size of the trout (or, should I say, the suspected size of the trout) that keeps many serious fly fishermen off the small streams. To be perfectly honest, if the deal being proposed was that you get the best of all the good things fly fishing offers in return for catching smaller trout, I'd take it. Actually, I did make that very deal with myself once and was perfectly happy with it."
Read moreThe Winter Crud
Steps to Overcoming the Crud:
1) Wake up and try to feel like a human. Get coffee, get clean, put on real clothes.
2) Replace real clothes with sweatpants and t-shirt. Who are you kidding? You're still a zombie.
3) Take your vitamins and fill up your water bottle.
4) Assume position on the couch, preferably with an electric blanket and a dog.
5) Drink water.
Well-Read Wednesday {Where the Pools Are Bright and Deep}
There is an empty camp nearby;
I have a key. I cower there.
And watch the battle in the sky
Until the storm and day are spent.
The rain has stopped, but water from the roof
Drops sulkily. The stars come out
And still the way toward home is dark.
I stoop below the branches spreading
From the birches’ snow-white trunks;
The cobwebs hang like snares across the trail
And water lies in unseen pools along the path.
I’m glad, at last,
To see the village lights.
-Dana S. Lamb
There's a particular book I keep in my office, it's old and well worn. It was given to me a few months back, donated because no one else wanted it, but it was assumed that I would take it and give it a good home. I like to think I have.
Where the Pools Are Bright and Deep has become a staple for me because of the inspiration that it brings whenever I need it. This book is not one that you'll pick up and not be able to put down, in fact, I found it to be quite the opposite. Lamb has comprised the book, much like other angling authors, as a collection of short stories; but, these are not simply stories, more like a glimpse into someone's day. There's really no beginning and conclusion.
These one to three-page narratives, written alternately in both first and third person, are short enough that you can escape yourself for just a few moments, only to return to life a little wiser than before.
Lamb describes the life of angling from an older, more sophisticated place. He takes you back to the days of aluminum fly boxes, elite tonkin cane rods, sipping scotch, and the superiority of the dry fly eating brown trout. It's a nostalgic perspective, proving that fly-fishing will always be more of an art than a sport.
If you're looking for a book to pick up for a few minutes before you start your day, or after, I highly recommend Where the Pools Are Bright and Deep. I don't think you'll be disappointed!
Shout-out Saturday - 2017
This year has been a year of discovery, cultivating new friendships, and inspiration from those around me. With 2017 coming to an end, I figured that I would make a short list (in no particular order) of those that have impacted me this past year.
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