The musings from stream side, as the fall turns to winter…for the present time at least.
A Late Afternoon, Mid-October Snowstorm on the Madison River – New York Times
I have come again to the why moment. I suspect it may be the reason I fish. I cast, and yet I hope I won’t hook another trout, because it would mean even wetter, colder hands and the trouble of drying the fly and, probably, tying a new knot. Fly-fishing means eliminating all the variables — what fly you choose, what cast you make, how you approach — until you solve the single, irreducible event that is happening in front of you: the head of a trout taking a mayfly from the water’s surface. For me there are no variables left. I am no longer up to problem-solving. The cold has reduced me to a single hypothesis, which the trout are now rejecting.
Verlyn paints a picture of cold and wet, a searching for the unfathomable of what can cause some people to put themselves into uncomfortable situations…But then again, maybe, he’s just musing on a well spent day…
The angler is supposed to be one with the stream, but in my experience he never is. He is always caught in the human comedy of self-justification, always opening the philosophical space that no other creature seems to require, toting around his reasons.
Seems Zen-like in the simplicity of the question. The answer is even more so…
I suppose I go fishing in the hopes that one day I will fish as intently as the trout that is even now rising to the mayfly. But then I am just supposing.
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It looks like Autumn is returning today after a short weekends respite. The temperatures were high on both Saturday and Sunday…Upper 80’s each day, but the wind was blowing nicely so that a bit of shade was all that was needed to stay semi-comfortable.
The grandson’s birthday party went well on Saturday. Lots of cute kids and young parents. Nothing makes you feel like a grandparent as much as watching young families having fun. Bouncing beautiful baby girls on your knee and growling at young boys as they rumble by…Ye, fun was had by all pictures to follow during the week.
The prognosticators are saying the days high temp will happen shortly after the sun comes up and then it’s all downhill from there. Highs later in the week are supposed to be the low 70’s with lows in the low 50’…I thought fall would never arrive.
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Marie posted pictures from the Valle Country Fair today…I look forward to seeing those hills from that site on that weekend in the not to distant future. An thanks Marie, for the view through your eyes…Go check them out at Blue Ridge Blog.
While you are checking out sites, go see Mark’s new shots at Appalachian Treks. The fall colors are amazing on the Blue Ridge Parkway this year…
