When, When Damn It!

Do you have that passion that goes unfilled and eventually, when enough time passes, the gnawing dissatisfaction commences? Satisfaction is required! Mine is fly fishing. Yes, I can dream of the next time for awhile. Old pictures suffice for a time. Picking random dates in the future as possible outings seems great until those dates pass by as missed opportunities. So, now, I am drifting into that very antsy mind state of twitchy, itchy, distracted grumpiness. I need to fish!

Odd how this mind state often coincides with life’s blizzard of obligations, commitments and dutiful events…especially for me in June/July. Many birthdays, graduations, and very nagging tasks left undone. The truth, seems to me, not escapism from life’s stressors, as much as a graving for that joy of the outdoors, and especially wetting a line. 

Well, I thought I might feel better to write this, but I don’t.

When?!

outdoors, photography, SwittersB, nature, fly fishing, hobby, recreation, obligations, life, duty, humor 

Benjamin Moore’s Main Street Matters

MAIN STREET MATTERS BY BENJAMIN MOORE PAINTS Video

An interesting observation of life is small town folks seem drawn to the city and city folks want to escape to the small town. Both offer something that helps counter balance the perceived doldrums or chaos of the other. Listen to the commercial and perhaps you will recognize Brad Pitt’s voice too. Also, the are having a contest on nominating your favorite Main Street.

Photography: Ivy Covered & Settling………..

Father’s Day Celebration

My Father’s Day celebration was perfect this weekend. I heard from my four children early in the morning and considered myself blessed. I thought back to my Dad and did the usual assessment of his personality, strengths and arrived at the eventual conclusion…remarkable man…I was lucky, I was blessed.

I wish I would have told him that beyond when I told him, as I held his hand, as he took his final breathes in the hospital. 

This weekend, I attended my daughter’s graduation at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. It was a very pleasant celebration that segued, in my mind, into the joys of fatherhood, the bittersweet transitions, the sometimes blind luck that results in amazing kids.

6,000 empty seats on the stadium floor awaited the graduating class of 2013

My daughter about to walk up to receive her diploma. Optimism, relief, expectation, apprehension….life.

Cottonwood Trees: It is that time again……..

when the black Cottonwood trees, in the wild land area behind our homes, start their month long snow fall of cotton that coats everything like a gauzy shroud. Just when the yard comes into shape comes the swirling, cottony mess…it started this weekend.

Soon the lawn and street will be white.

This morning’s coating begins as the morning warms up the seedlings fall.

Like drifting snow, the accumulations build up against edges and corners first.

I prefer the real snow…………I think

Portland Slow Foods Hosting Events re Sustainable Fisheries

PORTLAND SLOW FOODS IS HOSTING A SERIES OF EVENTS RE OUR PACIFIC NW FISHERIES

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE NOW!!!

June 13, 2013: Last Chance, Colorado

Reblogged from Cameron M. Redwine:

Above: Outflow winds from a severe thunderstorm kick up a wall of blowing dirt near Last Chance, Colorado on June 13, 2013.

I, along with several other Colorado chasers, tracked this storm through Last Chance in an attempt to get back in front of it. The blowing dirt reduced visibility so much, I didn't think it would be photographically fruitful to continue north.

Read more… 128 more words

What a powerful, impressive photograph Cameron!

Early Morning & Fishing

You can probably recount the benefits of being in/on the water waiting for first light…I can only think of Salmon having that predilection for the pronounced early morning bite. Otherwise, I have a hard time anymore being the first on the water. 

For the trout fly fisher, so much is attached to hatches and when they hatch…thereby determining when you should be on the water for the greatest chance of success. But, I have to say, as much as I like to fish to rising fish (fish coming to the surface for the emerging insects), I often fish with out an evident hatch. Fishing deep (nymphing/dredging/trolling) has, for me, become equally satisfying and often productive.

That time, when the light of day (cloudy day or sunny day), is more dominant than the early morning darkness is magical to be on/in the water. Fish are cruising about, feeding, maybe looking up to emerging Chironomids or just moving horizontally, on the prowl. The fish take hard and run hard, waking you up and removing the morning chill and clearing your mind.

Morning fishing primes the day. Last light fishing, although often as productive, is disappointing with the abrupt ending…it makes me anxious for more…tomorrow morning.

 

Premature Ejaculation…Slippery When Wet

A reminder when handling fish, particularly bigger fish: always wet your hands prior to  handling the fish…handle the fish as little as possible when removing the barbless hook…whether immediately releasing or posing for a pic, keep the fish low to the  water so if, as above, the fish propels itself out of your slippery grasp, the fall is a short distance into the water and not on any hard surfaces. 

Depending upon the size of fish, your level of excitement and your experience level, a little mental planning is in order. While you are caught up in ‘the moment’ and having fun, also give thought to how and where you will handle the fish to have a positive, safe outcome for the fish and yourself.  

Hollyhocks of Old….Really Old

HOLLYHOCK FOUND IN IRAQ NEANDERTHAL CAVE….SHANIDAR

I can recall, as a child, my parents always had certain flowering plants in the yard (roses, fuchsia, foxgloves, azaleas and hollyhocks). I took a sample of seeds from my parents hollyhocks right before the property was sold off and put them into our garden. Now they keep on growing. One has to be careful where you put them because they will self seed to a radius of at least their height….and perhaps where you don’t want them. Still I like the blooms. Hollyhocks go way back in time….. 

“Of all the skeletons found at the cave, Shanidar IV provides the best evidence for Neanderthal burial ritual. The skeleton of an adult male aged from 30–45 years was discovered in 1960…. soil samples from around the body, were gathered to establish…..vegetational history of the site, were analyzed…entire flowering plants (or at least heads of plants) had entered the grave deposit. Furthermore, a study of the particular flower types suggested that the flowers may have been chosen for their specific medicinal properties. Yarrow, Cornflower and Hollyhock were represented in the pollen samples, all of which have long-known curative powers as diuretics, stimulants, astringents as well as anti-inflammatory properties.”