sundog

Memes are contagious ideas, all competing for a share of our mind in a kind of Darwinian selection.

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June 23, 2005 12:15 PM
Lunch time on Thursday, and I'm getting the pictures up from yesterday's trip to the Rocky Mountain National Park where we fished a series of beaver ponds for trout. This part of the park is over 8000' but I don't know the exact height. High enough. High enough to pant after walking around a veaver pond in waders caring two packs and a flyrod. Below is a picture of the meadow with the beaver ponds. If you look close you'll see a tiny blue figure, that's Gail.

This is the famous fly flishing stream called the Thompson. We have gone high to the headwaters to get above the main river which is running very high to do very hot weather here. The high water makes dry fly fishing difficult. Gail can be seen fishing a small beaver pond here.

On the left you see me, standing on the beaver dam, fishing one of the largest of the small ponds. One strike, lots of flailing and beating the water, but the sky and the scenery are so gorgeous I didn't really care.

Above Gail sneaks up on unsuspecting finned friends and makes a beautiful cast. Whereas, I on the left spend most of the time identifying bushes by the number of my dry flies that are caught in them. And it's never just caught a little, the tippet always wraps around twenty branches before the fly catches. Spincasting is what I should be doing.

Above, but not clear in this small picture is the sun on the mountain behind me. In close up I'm hiding the fact that I am totally beat, over heated, and sick of flyfishing.

But there is something so beautiful about being high in the mountains. I can see why people live along the east edge of the Rockies, which they call the Front Range.

Meanwhile the truck is finally done and seems stable. The new gearing is much lower, and now my top speed is about 65 mph - there is more if I ask but the engine is spinning plenty fast (like it used to at 73mph). I have to put 500 miles on the rear end -its not mine- before I tow the trailer. We'll probably test the gearing with a trip up the Cache la Poudre river, up above 10,000 ft.

I forgot to tell you, the night before last I attended a Front Range Forum class on "The Glass Managerie", the play by Tenesse Williams. So I reread the play and notes earlier in the week, and while I have always found the play to be as exciting as a Russian Novel, discussing and reading the play with a group was a lot of fun. I got to read the last few lines of the play - the Tom character - and I used my Scott voice (helpdeskers know that voice). I did good, didn't embarass my brother too much.

Trainer who came two days ago, worked me to squeaking death, and today was the first day that I had to do all the exercises by myself. I whined terribly and I'm taking a nap as soon as I up load this. God, I HATE physical exercise, especially CRUNCHES.

Brother walked by and said where's the beer picture. Here it is! This was after our fishing excursion, we're in Estes park at a brewery totally exhausted, waiting for food, and I'm at about 80 Blood Glucose, and I WANT FOOD. Had a light amber beer suitable for whiney wimps and gail had something they scrape off the primary fermentation - bottom of the vat, and fortify with rusty nails. I was outgunned and outclassed. But afterwards I more than held my own with a mushroom cheeseburger. One nice big beer at 8000 ' elevation and an hour and 1/2 trip home, yeilded complete lose of motor function in back seat of the ford explorer for most of the trip.

The day's only half done, but I'm about full in puny, so I'm off to an early nap before my main nap. Maybe I'll go for coffee later. Hey, do you know what Gail and Butch call my bicycle - the folding one? A CLOWN BIKE.

I'm debating telling you about the date last night, but I need a day to get some perspective on it. For all you people who know and love "he who must not be mentioned" at Peacehealth (Gary), he's been emailing and sent me a picture of guitars - yes Gary is INTO it, the Boss should move over! here's Gary playing one of his guitars in Bend Oregon.

More to come as always.

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