Sunday, January 18, 2009

Taking it slow..and tieing flies


I seem to post on Sundays. Maybe it's a week in review wrap up?


Some interesting things have happened this week. I'm beginning to appreciate the luxury of taking things slow. This is a very hard concept for me! I'm like a racehorse with blinders charging to the finish line. Unlike a derby hopeful, this is not the best way for a 42 year old woman to proceed through life. Good for young Thoroughbred horses, not so good for people, me especially. This has never stopped me though; charging forward, racing to the finish line, blinders in place (blinders are those little hoods horses wear to keep them focused forward unable to see what is right next to them) first one there gets the prize (or a broken leg and dragged back to the barn to be shot)!

I've been thinking about what my goal for the new year might be. I like to set a goal, rather than make a resolution. It's the same thing I guess, but a goal to me is something I want to learn or discover and a resolution to me is something I need to stop.

My goal is to take off my blinders and slow down. Some of you who know me are wondering; slow down, jeeze if she were anymore laid back (aka lazy) she would be in a coma! By slowing down I'm talking about appreciating the little things. Getting to know someone rather that immediately jumping into the thick of things. Learning to appreciate the things I have rather than wishing for what I don't have. Turning off the electronics and spending time with the people I love. Cooking at home and sharing a meal rather than going out to eat. Those things.

I've met someone who has been teaching me about fly fishing. I enjoy fishing, I always have. We fished all the time when we were kids. We used lures, worms, cheese, even the buds off the thick grass that grew at the edge of the lake we lived by when we were growing up. I even spent a couple of days in Canada at one of those fly in places with a huge lake and cottages where you spend all morning fishing, come in long enough to cook a shore lunch with your mornings catch, back out on the lake for the afternoon fishing and then back to the island and your cottage in the evening for another fish dinner and time spent around a campfire. In other words - heaven!! I've never tried fly fishing. I know what it is, the basic concept. Long rod, simple reel, pull out some line and swish, swish, swish gently casting the rod and pulling it back, again and again. Back and forth, back and forth and finally letting the line settle down and drift a little. The lures, known as flies, imitate nature - most specifically the insects that hatch in succession throughout the season. There are also lures that resemble frogs, ants, mice, crickets any unfortunate creature who falls into a river or stream and looks like a tasty treat to an always hungry fish. Some lures are attractors; not designed to look like anything but just shiny or squiggly enough to catch the fish's eye and entice them to give it a closer inspection! The flies are amazing! Some are so small I can't imagine even being able to hook anything bigger than a minnow on it! The sub culture to fly fishing is fly tieing. Fishermen who create their own flies at home using all kinds of material - mostly natural like feathers of all kinds, deer hair, moose mane, rabbit ear hair, squirrel tail, you name it and it's probably for sale. Man made fibers are also incorporated, fleece, chenille, iridescent thread, and much more all combined to make an irresistible little tidbit attached to a hook with the intention to land that elusive stream or river dweller! OK, I'll get off my flybox and give it a rest for a minute, but I'm hooked (bad pun, I know)!!

Here's to taking it slow, appreciating what you have, taking off blinders, appreciating the art of flies and....kissing for 2 hours!

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