Dear Readers — all 7 of you — 8 if we count my dear mother,
I’ve been doing some readin’, writin’ and arhythmaddict.
I’ve been on the road. I’ve been ridin’ the interstates across the United States. I’ve been interviewing boat builders. I’ve been trying to interview a famous fly fishermen that did some stunt casting in the movie A River Runs Through It for future articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Fly Fishing.
Why I Haven’t Been Around Here Much
I’ve been taking clients fishing. I’ve been reading a book about fly fishing. I’ve been listening to an album of acoustic music performed by an acquaintance of mine that has a tune on it titled Fisher’s.
I know, that’s a stretch trying to tie the album into a fly fishing blog just because it’s got a tune titled Fisher’s and I’ve been traveling and the name of the album is Acoustic Traveler, but hey, I’m an optimist. Otherwise I wouldn’t be a flyfisherman!
As you can tell by now, I’ve been doing many things but I haven’t been paying attention to this blog. Please accept my apologies.
That may be a little presumptuous of me to think you even noticed I was gone, but remember, I’m an optimist. Anyway, this blog — my fly fishing blog — is supposed to be about fly fishing. I’m staying up late trying to get this out tonight, so stay with me now.
Tonight’s entry is about fly fishing sort of, but not exactly. It’s semi-personal but bloggish.
I mean hells bells, man does not live by fly fishing alone. I hope you’ll find something good if you read on. I won’t make a habit of posting this type of stuff if you’ll indulge me this story, out of the blue.
Fly Fishing Season In Montana
A couple of weeks ago, I left my home outside of Nashville, Tennessee to make my way back here for the upcoming fly fishing guide season in Montana.
I had licenses to renew and some early season clients booked that couldn’t wait to start their fly fishing season. Why they left sunny, warm, California to come to Montana in the late winter and endure icy waters, sluggish trout and air temperatures in the low teens I’ll never understand. But they did.
I also had to de-winterize my house and get the phone and Internet turned back on and all kinds of stuff like that.
On my way to Montana, I listened to a lot of music. Let’s start the equation with the A Rhythm Addict.
By the way, did you know that you can get WSIX on XM Satellite Radio? I didn’t learn that until about 600 miles into the trip.
As I pulled away from Nashville and headed north, I listened to WSIX FM The Big 98 until it faded away into gray, static nothingness like a favorite black t-shirt after one too many runs through the washer.
I looked into the cardboard boot box on the seat beside me. There I had packed 50 CDs for the trip. Some of them my own music, some of friends, some of artists I’ve never met but enjoy. The first one I was looking for has come to be a tradition for me on road trips. I found it, plucked it out of the box and plugged it into the CD player. — Acoustic Traveler by John McEuen.
One of the publicist’s clients was John McEuen. I knew of John. Among other things, he is one of the founders of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I also knew he was a monster musician. I especially loved his acoustic work. During that time, John gave me this copy of Acoustic Traveler. (Go to John McEuen’s website and hear some samples.)
John plays many different instruments and styles of music, so if you don’t hear something you like right off of the bat, just listen again. He is a string wizard and I know this because he has albums named String Wizards, String Wizards II, String Wizard’s Picks, and so on and so forth.
So, there’s the arhythmaddict part that goes with the readin’ and writin’.
Coming Up In Part 2…
In the next post, I’ll tell you about the writin’ part of the equation.
Here’s a hint: I was going to post a fly fishing piece I wrote for Easter. I forgot that I had submitted it to an outdoors publisher though. I just got a letter from them that they were including the piece in their online publication this week. Since we don’t publish duplicate material here on TheFunTimesGuide.com, I’m not going to post it, but I will tell you about it. I will also tell you about the fly fisherman that inspired me to write it and I’ll give you a link to the website and you can see a little bit of my outdoors spiritual side for yourself.
I know, the suspense is killing me too.
Thanks, for giving me the space to share a little something, out of the blue.
Sharp Hooks and Tight Lines,
Ron
Post Script: When I began writing this piece, it was March 16th. It is now well past midnight in the mountains of Montana. Therefore, I want to share something with you that my cousin, Leslie, sent for today, March 17th:
Health. Luck. Happiness. For each petal of the shamrock, this brings a wish your way. Good health, good luck and happiness for today, and every day. — Irish Proverb
UPDATE: Part 2 – Readin’, Writin’ and ARhythmAddict
I’m a fly fishing guide in Montana. One of my greatest pleasures in life is introducing people to fly fishing — watching them catch their first fish on a fly, and watching them ‘get it’ when it all comes together. I love sharing what I’ve learned in an easy-to-understand manner.