Tag: Nature/Life

  • Seasons of Change

    Seasons of Change

    Gone are the summer evenings of sunlight and splendor. Fallen are the leaves of autumn once more. Bright mornings give way to early darkness as a new season approaches. The rivers are much cooler now and the snow will be flying soon. I even had ice in my guides while fishing this weekend, which acted…

  • Don’t Take Fall For Granted

    Don’t Take Fall For Granted

    The autumn leaves have already peaked here in the high country and I’m not sure how that’s possible. Gone are the blazing hot days of intense summer sun. We’re in what some people call “Indian summer” and although the origin of the phrase isn’t entirely clear, it was likely a period after the first frost…

  • Routine (The good, the bad, and the necessary)

    Routine (The good, the bad, and the necessary)

    Routine is part of life. Most of us wake up, go to work, come home, make dinner, watch a show and go to bed. We rinse and repeat Monday through Friday until the weekend finally arrives. I’ve had students for the past four weeks and we now have our routine. It’s a good one and…

  • Nowhere, Alaska

    Nowhere, Alaska

    I’ve been nowhere for a few hours and gone a day or two without a shower, but that’s about it. Alaska was different. My compatriots and I talked for months about how we’d feel when the float plane took off and left us to our own devices in the Alaskan wilderness. It was surreal and…

  • Compliments and Kindness Don’t Cost a Thing

    Compliments and Kindness Don’t Cost a Thing

    Why do some people hold back on giving compliments? Do we just not think about giving them or do we keep them to ourselves? Does it diminish us to build others up? Complimenting others makes me feel good. Building people up is oh so important for kids, middle aged folks (like myself) and retirees alike.…

  • Back “Home”

    Back “Home”

    I don’t have any immediate family left in New York State these days, but I have enough people that still feel like family. They’re the type of friends you fall back into rhythm with like a musician picking up an old guitar that’s been in a dusty closet for a year. It takes a few…

  • Fishing With a Time Machine

    Fishing With a Time Machine

    If I had a real time machine I’d probably return to a few scenes of fly fishing failure and try to make amends, but that would be cheating. Instead, I prefer to capitalize on the bipolar weather/elevation change in Colorado and use it to my advantage. The flies that worked so well in March have…

  • Signs of Spring

    Signs of Spring

    “All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.”  – Marie Curie My father and I visited Cheesman Canyon last week in search of trout and nature.  It’s a Front Range fishery near Denver, so the days tend to warm more rapidly throughout the calendar year compared to other…

  • A Day on the Water

    A Day on the Water

    No alarm set, but I still wake up early. I get to go fishing today. My coffee tastes just a little bit better because it’s Saturday. My truck is ready and willing to take me to the river and starts without a fuss. The wind is supposed to gust over 30mph later on so the…

  • Reverse Poem: The Best of Everything

    Reverse Poem: The Best of Everything

    I was reading about reverse poems and wanted to give one a shot. Read from top to bottom and bottom to top. Get the best of everything don’t settle for less and work hard for what you deserve because happiness is on the horizon Aim high battle the slow drip of mediocrity and take the…

  • The Shadows of Fall

    The Shadows of Fall

    Sunlight waning Shadows appear Longer, deeper, colder A new day dawns Shadows fade Shorter, shallower, warmer Seasons shift as time elapses New bonds are made near and far The first snow is met with a smile or a grimace Stubborn leaves remain as seasons collide The shadows of fall are upon us.

  • Moving

    Moving

    Most of us have moved at least once in our lives, but many more of us have packed up our belongings (including the things we should have thrown away) to relocate more times than we care to count. After my initial cross country venture to Colorado, I’ve loaded up my life three more times to…

  • Summer

    Summer

    The word summer means a plethora of things to a great many people. It could be a day at the lake or maybe crushing frosty beverages at a weekend BBQ because that’s a rule. It could be a break from the kids after sending them off to camp for the week because you deserve it.…

  • Changing of the Seasons

    Changing of the Seasons

    The past few weeks I have worn shorts, sandals, my raincoat, a beanie, warm socks, pants, a t-shirt, my STARSET hoodie, and my favorite fishing hat, which is becoming quite rustic I might add. I’ve written about this before and some people know how much I love the shoulder seasons in Colorado, but to actually…

  • Staring at the Sun

    Staring at the Sun

    If I’m being honest, I never imagined I’d ever visit the state of Arkansas. However, there are some famous rivers such as the White and Little Red, which hold brown trout that would eat the browns I’ve been catching recently. In 1992, a 40 pound brown trout was caught below Greer’s Ferry Lake (where we…

  • Into the Wild: Small Wonders

    Into the Wild: Small Wonders

    As a teacher, I’m not too proud to admit when I’m wrong and if I get a question I can’t answer, I’ll look it up. For one thing, I want to know more tomorrow than I do today and I want to practice what I preach, not just preach. So, how I had never read the…