If it had been asked of me earlier this week that there was a magic mystical location that had the trifectal ambrosia of trout diet of cicadas, salmonflies and green drakes, I would have politely guffawed and been on my merry way. I know that I blog such as this is utterly worthless without pictures, but I can assure you, there were many witnesses to the day and to the illuminations in the water breaking the surface for our emergers and illustrious dry flies.
The illuminations were nothing but pure 100% brown trout, the foreign yet unsubdued salmonid of Europa. These fine dragons of the deep graced our presence with brilliant hues and tantalizing red smudges that looked as if the great Tomerelli had painted them himself, encircled by faint blue halos that were lost in a sea of mustard clouds and indiscriminate marks careening for the caudal tail.
A perfect 75 degree morning favored us as we partook of the holy breakfast toast my lovely had created for all of us, and after some debate of which stream to dapple and entice thus fishes, we chose the high road. Lakes full of crystal clear yet freezing water popped up left and right as we made the ascent into the holy land of trout. Not sixty seconds had passed after the careful choosing of our destination did my lovely simply inquire, “What kind of bug is THAT?” as a plump and delicious salmonfly proceeded to hide away under the park bench when Leaky saw it and stifled a laugh, which to me sounded more like he was passing wind and softly cried with pleasure.
A perfect specimen to behold, the size of a hummingbird, this oversized stonefly danced awkwardly across the stream only to be swallowed by the pines surrounding the river corridor.
We knew it, like it had been told to us before, the success of the day and the pursuit of trout was accomplished, that this was a day for constant re-telling, yet we had only to fish it first!
As we made the way towards a tiny confluence, we noticed the green demon lurking under the clouds, and re-appearing before our very eyes to reveal its tiger striped body and ever bulging eyes as Leaky exclaimed in a loud rant, “Green Drake!” Two TOI’s (secret fly pattern)later, we had the run of a lifetime, each picking up a dozen trout apiece and laughing all the while, addressing the chance that karma had tossed our way. With the drones of cicadas in the willows, we continued upstream and onward in our hunt for the Von Behr and Loch Leven, whichever they may be.
I took time to silently express gratitude to Poseidon for the fate of the perfect water temperature, showing respect for Zeus for sparking the emergence of the hatch thanks to the cloudy sky, Hopi the wind god to send a calm breeze down on us, and Fortuna for blessing us with a downpour of splashy hungry trout.
A good day between heaven and earth, and it almost seemed to transcend the difference betwixt us, as we made our way back to the car, and left me highly anticipating the keyboard to stroke the keys in an attempt to re-create the day…
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
A day in the life of a man after work
What is it about writing itself that is so cathartic? If I’m in a mood that is generally displeasing, there is something so soothing about the idea of sitting down in a nice leather chair, kicking my feet under the desk and commence to giving my fingers, forearms and wrists a good workout while I pound this electronic apparatus and take out the grievances of the day on it.
Today was a good day at work. And it was a day of recognition in most circumstances. Only, it was also a day that would forever calm my questions of what, why, when and how long till…and I guess I should be happy that all of my questions, concerns and desperate cries of staring at the ceiling at night have been answered with a many good resolutions.
It’s just that…transition is so deceiving sometimes. It feels good to have an idea in your mind that things will eventually work themselves out, and when we are shooting for the moon and envisioning ourselves out past the stars, we quickly (and humbly) forget the journey we took to get to this hailed milepost of life.
I am currently overlooking the transition right now, and seeing myself in more favorable digs, apparatus and intellectual conscientiousness as I allow my imagination to creep in for a bit and give me a taste of “what could be”…and I like it. What is most important at this time is to overlook the wheres, the whats, the whys and just break it down to the least common denominator: how.
And how? By doing what you’ve been doing this past year. Working hard with no thought of reward save only the biweekly paycheck which allows you to pursue other interests of life and therefore give you purpose, insight, and passion for the things we neither see nor hear but are constantly searching after. This of course is...truth. But truth comes in many forms, and some of these things, we just can't find. It's part of the earth experience. Some things just cannot be accomplished. And it drives the soul of person CRAZY to know it can't have what it thinks it wants!!!
This, of course, is the pursuit of all humankind. I just have a feeling, that it is WAY beyond our comprehension to know exactly WHAT we are chasing after…
Today was a good day at work. And it was a day of recognition in most circumstances. Only, it was also a day that would forever calm my questions of what, why, when and how long till…and I guess I should be happy that all of my questions, concerns and desperate cries of staring at the ceiling at night have been answered with a many good resolutions.
It’s just that…transition is so deceiving sometimes. It feels good to have an idea in your mind that things will eventually work themselves out, and when we are shooting for the moon and envisioning ourselves out past the stars, we quickly (and humbly) forget the journey we took to get to this hailed milepost of life.
I am currently overlooking the transition right now, and seeing myself in more favorable digs, apparatus and intellectual conscientiousness as I allow my imagination to creep in for a bit and give me a taste of “what could be”…and I like it. What is most important at this time is to overlook the wheres, the whats, the whys and just break it down to the least common denominator: how.
And how? By doing what you’ve been doing this past year. Working hard with no thought of reward save only the biweekly paycheck which allows you to pursue other interests of life and therefore give you purpose, insight, and passion for the things we neither see nor hear but are constantly searching after. This of course is...truth. But truth comes in many forms, and some of these things, we just can't find. It's part of the earth experience. Some things just cannot be accomplished. And it drives the soul of person CRAZY to know it can't have what it thinks it wants!!!
This, of course, is the pursuit of all humankind. I just have a feeling, that it is WAY beyond our comprehension to know exactly WHAT we are chasing after…
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Glory, Glory Man United!
Well it has been far too long, and I have much to write about, but I want to dedicate this post to a sports team.
Modern lore dictates the team I have followed from Day 1 this season is the largest fan base in the world. “So what?” echoes the average American sports fan with his head buried online busy reading up on Kobe Bryant and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., that he has no idea that virtually every country in the world watched the exact same match that I watched today at Fiddler’s Elbow with my Aussie friend, George.
I am speaking of course of the fabled Manchester United Football Club, or MUFC.
Keep in mind that while I am writing this, I am envisioning and actually speaking the words with an English accent, as I have been hearing the games announced all season on many football/soccer channels, and quite frankly, it’s the way they should be announced: with fervor and perfect dictation, not to mention RAW and sheer excitement in the delivery of God’s greatest language!
What an electric game to watch! Millions of televisions the world over gathered to observe Cristiano Ronaldo place a header in at the 26th minute, on an absolutely BRILLIANT play set up by the Ginger Ninja, Paul Scholes and Wes Brown. It worked perfectly, but of course it did, Ronaldo is only the best player in the world! A few minutes later, there was some miscommunication in the goal box and bad luck for the Red Devils, the Blues equalized in the 44th minute with a goal for Chelsea. I guess Man U was just thinking about sinking their teeth into their halftime oranges, eh?
The second half begins, and it’s all about Chelsea and a lethargic effort of offense by Man U. At this point, Chelsea had about 17 shots on goal totally overpowering Man U’s 7 shots on goal. There were only about 6 Chelsea fans in the pub, and a good many 30 to 40 Man U fans, decked out in the red and white. It kind of reminded me of a Utah-BYU game, actually. The onslaught of goals continued until the 90th minute and stoppage began. There were furious amounts of substitutions as we geared up for the inevitable.
Much to my dismay (and many others at that), UEFA have eliminated the Golden Goal overtime, and have opted for 2 15-minute periods and THEN penalty kicks for their Championship program.
After several minutes of strategies backfiring on both ends, there was a scuffle between both teams. Wes Brown and Carlos Tevez were backed into a corner by several Chelsea players and Didier Drogba, Chelsea’s best player and death striker, made an asinine move and slapped Wes Brown. Sorry mate, you can’t do that. It’s against the rules. Drogba was hit with a Red Card (Vive le Zidane!) and tossed from the pitch to watch his team from the locker room.
2 overtimes are through. Break out some more oranges and Evian!
We go to penalty kicks and Cristiano Ronaldo does something utterly tragic and tried to fake the keeper and Cech guesses right and stops Ronaldo. It’s 4 to 5 and Chelsea’s captain, John Terry just has to make one goal and the title is Chelseas’s…
He slips and falls on his approach and the ball goes wide right off the post!!!
The momentum has switched and Man U breaks in Giggs and Nani’s goal, and Edwin Van Der Sar the mammoth goalkeeper for Manchester United guesses right on Anelka’s poor showing in the bottom left corner and sends it sailing out!
Manchester United wins the UEFA Championship, 6-5p over Chelsea!
Glory, Glory Man United!
The Premier League Champions and UEFA Champions as they seal the Double and become Champions of Europe again!
Tune in next year as I break it down bit by bit and introduce you to the amazing sport of football as it’s meant to be played!
And for your viewing pleasure, I give you the most famous announcer in the world…I just don’t know his name.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ghSaZkwetRw
Modern lore dictates the team I have followed from Day 1 this season is the largest fan base in the world. “So what?” echoes the average American sports fan with his head buried online busy reading up on Kobe Bryant and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., that he has no idea that virtually every country in the world watched the exact same match that I watched today at Fiddler’s Elbow with my Aussie friend, George.
I am speaking of course of the fabled Manchester United Football Club, or MUFC.
Keep in mind that while I am writing this, I am envisioning and actually speaking the words with an English accent, as I have been hearing the games announced all season on many football/soccer channels, and quite frankly, it’s the way they should be announced: with fervor and perfect dictation, not to mention RAW and sheer excitement in the delivery of God’s greatest language!
What an electric game to watch! Millions of televisions the world over gathered to observe Cristiano Ronaldo place a header in at the 26th minute, on an absolutely BRILLIANT play set up by the Ginger Ninja, Paul Scholes and Wes Brown. It worked perfectly, but of course it did, Ronaldo is only the best player in the world! A few minutes later, there was some miscommunication in the goal box and bad luck for the Red Devils, the Blues equalized in the 44th minute with a goal for Chelsea. I guess Man U was just thinking about sinking their teeth into their halftime oranges, eh?
The second half begins, and it’s all about Chelsea and a lethargic effort of offense by Man U. At this point, Chelsea had about 17 shots on goal totally overpowering Man U’s 7 shots on goal. There were only about 6 Chelsea fans in the pub, and a good many 30 to 40 Man U fans, decked out in the red and white. It kind of reminded me of a Utah-BYU game, actually. The onslaught of goals continued until the 90th minute and stoppage began. There were furious amounts of substitutions as we geared up for the inevitable.
Much to my dismay (and many others at that), UEFA have eliminated the Golden Goal overtime, and have opted for 2 15-minute periods and THEN penalty kicks for their Championship program.
After several minutes of strategies backfiring on both ends, there was a scuffle between both teams. Wes Brown and Carlos Tevez were backed into a corner by several Chelsea players and Didier Drogba, Chelsea’s best player and death striker, made an asinine move and slapped Wes Brown. Sorry mate, you can’t do that. It’s against the rules. Drogba was hit with a Red Card (Vive le Zidane!) and tossed from the pitch to watch his team from the locker room.
2 overtimes are through. Break out some more oranges and Evian!
We go to penalty kicks and Cristiano Ronaldo does something utterly tragic and tried to fake the keeper and Cech guesses right and stops Ronaldo. It’s 4 to 5 and Chelsea’s captain, John Terry just has to make one goal and the title is Chelseas’s…
He slips and falls on his approach and the ball goes wide right off the post!!!
The momentum has switched and Man U breaks in Giggs and Nani’s goal, and Edwin Van Der Sar the mammoth goalkeeper for Manchester United guesses right on Anelka’s poor showing in the bottom left corner and sends it sailing out!
Manchester United wins the UEFA Championship, 6-5p over Chelsea!
Glory, Glory Man United!
The Premier League Champions and UEFA Champions as they seal the Double and become Champions of Europe again!
Tune in next year as I break it down bit by bit and introduce you to the amazing sport of football as it’s meant to be played!
And for your viewing pleasure, I give you the most famous announcer in the world…I just don’t know his name.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ghSaZkwetRw
Monday, January 14, 2008
Rhapsody on a theme of my childhood
Ever since I was a small child, I have always loved the dramatic sounds of classical music. In the center of our living room, we had a dual stereo system. Equipped on the left side was the 8 track player. We had a few 8 track cassettes here and there, some Olivia Newton-John, The Lettermen and others. To the right, we had the old turntable.
I was constantly haunted by the sounds of Carmen, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, The Carpenters, The Beach Boys, and a favorite of mine and my brother’s: The William Tell Overture, which may be more familiarized by its use for scoring The Lone Ranger. In fact, Derek and I would run around the core of the house when it would play. I loved that old record player.
My parents thought it wise to introduce us to the classics of music early on, and I was privileged enough to have Mrs. Ruth Dowding as my 5th grade teacher. She was well versed and taught equally well the Masters of Classical music. Every week we would study a new composer. Bach, Beethoven, Hayden, Mozart, Bizet, Vivaldi and Gershwin to name a few. This early emphasis of music education helped me create a menagerie of dozens of genre that I enjoy to this day.
Erin used a good bit of research and good sense to exchange our Symphony tickets from last November’s “The Rite of Spring” to last week’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" by Sergei Rachmaninoff at Abravanel Hall. For those who are not familiar with this exceptional piece, this 24 variation piece isn’t really a rhapsody at all, yet it was named as such for it sounds as if the music is giving the oratory through its harmonic rise and fall. It is also of note that this piece is considered extremely difficult to play on piano and also to accompany with a symphony or orchestra.
I always associate the 18th variation with the movie “Somewhere in Time”, with my childhood hero, Christopher Reeve as the main character who falls in love with a woman in a 1912 photo: the beautiful Jane Seymour.
Reeve played Superman, an ultimate favorite film of mine throughout all my years. Somewhere in Time is an amazing film, and the music is its best feature, besides the lead actress.
With a full symphony and grand piano before us, I knew this was a special event, none to soon be matched. As I heard the introduction of the 18th variation being played at the symphony this weekend, (about 12 minutes into the rhapsody, I was paralyzed in my seat. The pianist had the sellout crowd totally and voluntarily captivated. We dared not even budge, sniff or make a sound. A particular quiet and hush befell the audience, and everyone just breathed in the entire moment. My eyes filled with tears (I have no problem admitting that art & music often moves me to an ocular salty discharge), and I totally embraced the moment as compelling, perfect, and without a doubt, I accepted this was the most incredible song I had ever heard.
Isn’t it grand to have dreams and moments come true that we have always anticipated we would one day see, hear and experience?
My hat is off to you, Erin. Bless you. Thank you for sharing that unforgettable experience with me and accompanying me in my endeavours and dreams.
I was constantly haunted by the sounds of Carmen, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, The Carpenters, The Beach Boys, and a favorite of mine and my brother’s: The William Tell Overture, which may be more familiarized by its use for scoring The Lone Ranger. In fact, Derek and I would run around the core of the house when it would play. I loved that old record player.
My parents thought it wise to introduce us to the classics of music early on, and I was privileged enough to have Mrs. Ruth Dowding as my 5th grade teacher. She was well versed and taught equally well the Masters of Classical music. Every week we would study a new composer. Bach, Beethoven, Hayden, Mozart, Bizet, Vivaldi and Gershwin to name a few. This early emphasis of music education helped me create a menagerie of dozens of genre that I enjoy to this day.
Erin used a good bit of research and good sense to exchange our Symphony tickets from last November’s “The Rite of Spring” to last week’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" by Sergei Rachmaninoff at Abravanel Hall. For those who are not familiar with this exceptional piece, this 24 variation piece isn’t really a rhapsody at all, yet it was named as such for it sounds as if the music is giving the oratory through its harmonic rise and fall. It is also of note that this piece is considered extremely difficult to play on piano and also to accompany with a symphony or orchestra.
I always associate the 18th variation with the movie “Somewhere in Time”, with my childhood hero, Christopher Reeve as the main character who falls in love with a woman in a 1912 photo: the beautiful Jane Seymour.
Reeve played Superman, an ultimate favorite film of mine throughout all my years. Somewhere in Time is an amazing film, and the music is its best feature, besides the lead actress.
With a full symphony and grand piano before us, I knew this was a special event, none to soon be matched. As I heard the introduction of the 18th variation being played at the symphony this weekend, (about 12 minutes into the rhapsody, I was paralyzed in my seat. The pianist had the sellout crowd totally and voluntarily captivated. We dared not even budge, sniff or make a sound. A particular quiet and hush befell the audience, and everyone just breathed in the entire moment. My eyes filled with tears (I have no problem admitting that art & music often moves me to an ocular salty discharge), and I totally embraced the moment as compelling, perfect, and without a doubt, I accepted this was the most incredible song I had ever heard.
Isn’t it grand to have dreams and moments come true that we have always anticipated we would one day see, hear and experience?
My hat is off to you, Erin. Bless you. Thank you for sharing that unforgettable experience with me and accompanying me in my endeavours and dreams.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
I thought I had seen it all...
until I was at the Coffee stop and overheard a conversation with the traveling customer. I was picking up a daily dose of nectar (Mountain Dew) and ambrosia (blueberry muffin), and a girl driving a Volvo SUV was picking up her Orange Mocha Frappucino (props to Zoolander!), and the coffee girl offered her dog a milk-bone. She said, "No thanks, my dog is a Vegan!"
Absolutely the most absurd thing I have ever heard. Without a doubt, this world is spiraling downwards with no hope for anything good and positive. All of the bystanders just dropped our mouths in disbelief and after she left, we all had a good laugh.
When did we make up our minds that we can turn a carnivore into an herbivore?
Has anyone else seen or witnessed something this silly and overboard?
Absolutely the most absurd thing I have ever heard. Without a doubt, this world is spiraling downwards with no hope for anything good and positive. All of the bystanders just dropped our mouths in disbelief and after she left, we all had a good laugh.
When did we make up our minds that we can turn a carnivore into an herbivore?
Has anyone else seen or witnessed something this silly and overboard?
Monday, October 29, 2007
What I've Been Doing Lately...
These days it's all about writing.
Writing at home, on a computer that is older than most of my nephews and nieces.
The hope is to truly put enough silly words together to someday create and construct a book. I'm not going to tell you that it will be a monumental piece of work.
All I am telling you now is that it will be worth it, and it will be a reflection of what I have been thinking about lately, what I have put in long hours for about 5 evenings a week, and that it will have all been worth it in the long run.
A few pics from the summer.
Last fishing trip with Schroeder.
Biggest fish of the year so far.
Kunz' first ever Grayling.
The night of the Five Otters on Henry's Fork.
Colorado River Cutthroat
Where I long to be on snowy days...paddling towards the volcano on Kadavu, Fiji.
More to come later.
Writing at home, on a computer that is older than most of my nephews and nieces.
The hope is to truly put enough silly words together to someday create and construct a book. I'm not going to tell you that it will be a monumental piece of work.
All I am telling you now is that it will be worth it, and it will be a reflection of what I have been thinking about lately, what I have put in long hours for about 5 evenings a week, and that it will have all been worth it in the long run.
A few pics from the summer.
Last fishing trip with Schroeder.
Biggest fish of the year so far.
Kunz' first ever Grayling.
The night of the Five Otters on Henry's Fork.
Colorado River Cutthroat
Where I long to be on snowy days...paddling towards the volcano on Kadavu, Fiji.
More to come later.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Spaced out drivers? No survivors
20th in the Nation? You have GOT to be kidding me? That’s what I read in an article on msn.com a few days ago. It says that Utah has the 20th best driving record out of all 50 states. I just don’t believe it!
Today as I drove from the 9th and 9th area of Salt Lake City, I followed a Ford Taurus wagon with Minnesota license plates. Besides the “BARK” and “COEXIST” bumper stickers, I could tell this driver was a liberal. How do I know? The driver had absolutely NO depth perception, and she passed a cyclist on the left and honest to heaven, she gave the cyclist 15 feet berth so she wouldn’t hit him. I guess she thought it was more important to save the cyclist the burden of her driving, and didn’t think of the oncoming traffic that was headed the other direction. The oncoming car had to STOP to let this lunatic driver pass the cyclist. I mean, COME ON PEOPLE! 15 feet? Our roads are only so wide, she could have given the cyclist 3 feet and he would have been fine.
I turned onto 19th East, and she was still ahead of me. She looked like she was flying a Mooney airplane: She was lined up perfectly…only she was driving, not flying. I couldn’t believe it. I kept honking and pointing my finger towards OUR side of the road, yet cars continued to pull off the side of the road. I got a good look at her, and she wasn’t even talking on a cell phone, nor was she 88 years old.
I have no idea why Utah has such terrible drivers. It couldn’t be that we have more cars in our cities. It couldn’t be that we have more kids on cell phones. So what is the answer? Can anyone tell me? Why are there more and more idiots on the road these days, and why do I feel like I have to be a super-defensive driver when I’m out there? Does anyone have the answer?
Today as I drove from the 9th and 9th area of Salt Lake City, I followed a Ford Taurus wagon with Minnesota license plates. Besides the “BARK” and “COEXIST” bumper stickers, I could tell this driver was a liberal. How do I know? The driver had absolutely NO depth perception, and she passed a cyclist on the left and honest to heaven, she gave the cyclist 15 feet berth so she wouldn’t hit him. I guess she thought it was more important to save the cyclist the burden of her driving, and didn’t think of the oncoming traffic that was headed the other direction. The oncoming car had to STOP to let this lunatic driver pass the cyclist. I mean, COME ON PEOPLE! 15 feet? Our roads are only so wide, she could have given the cyclist 3 feet and he would have been fine.
I turned onto 19th East, and she was still ahead of me. She looked like she was flying a Mooney airplane: She was lined up perfectly…only she was driving, not flying. I couldn’t believe it. I kept honking and pointing my finger towards OUR side of the road, yet cars continued to pull off the side of the road. I got a good look at her, and she wasn’t even talking on a cell phone, nor was she 88 years old.
I have no idea why Utah has such terrible drivers. It couldn’t be that we have more cars in our cities. It couldn’t be that we have more kids on cell phones. So what is the answer? Can anyone tell me? Why are there more and more idiots on the road these days, and why do I feel like I have to be a super-defensive driver when I’m out there? Does anyone have the answer?
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