Tuesday, October 30, 2012

milestone post - the lessons of a life spent among dogs

it would be nice to have some pics in here...

anyways I've been holding off on this one
trying to wait until my birthday to make the one thousandth post here
and I wanted to be deep and profound
reflective of the wisdom gleaned
over fifty two years

well good luck with that
as if I had a chance
I had no idea what to blog about
I pondered my arthritic fingers and how 
they're causing me problems when I plane
or that one got am split 
that gives you fits from beginning to end
then I met a dog
a pit bull pup and a handsome sonuvagun

and I realized how much of my life I've spent
in the company of dogs
at times an awful lot of them
all the litters of puppies whoa...

I have one dog now and have had him the past nine years I guess
before that mr. t and I shared fifteen glorious years together
holy smokes in college there were bailey and bonnie and buddy 
mr t's running buddies and partners in crime up in flagstaff

prior to that were my restless years I suppose
I had dogs here and there
none really notable

we grew up raising irish setters - show dogs
I can't even begin to remember all those dogs
the family dogs though
catlin finn maura chara
usually a couple three pups as well

my first job as a teenager
back in wisconsin
was as kennel boy at a black lab kennel
fed the dogs cleaned the shit just like at home
weekends we went out and trained these magnificent dogs
for field trials
in wooded pastures and ponds marshes where ever
those weekends were fun plus we got tipped

not sure what the lesson is
perhaps it's in the blessings we've been to one another
our whole lives

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

blast from the past

a mere four or five generations ago
a good portion of the american populace 
lived like this...


the holtzmann spread
new freedom, wisconsin
my maternal grandmother grew up here

Friday, October 19, 2012

wheatley

I've got three wheatley flyboxes
a couple of which I have a love/hate relationsip with
those cool little glass lids stink out loud
they either open too easily or not all


this one happens to be filled w/ flies sent to me
by my good friend roy christie 
I do treasure those and it is why they are kept
in theis fancypants box

disclaimer: of the three I have I purchase one
the cheap one (and the one I use most often)
the other two were gifts
and very nice ones

thank you.


Thursday, October 18, 2012

is that so?

I was surprised and semi-shocked this morning
to read that beagles are listed among the dumbest of breeds

while p-nutt is called ding dong or little dumbass
about as often as he is called his name
I'm a bit stunned to hear he's quite dumb

he does play dumb games I'll give him that
he barks like an idiot as well
but whenever he hears the word dumbass
he looks up at the speaker in expectation

I suppose I'd like to think that he is smart
because he is mine
I'm afraid that might not be the case

he does have his mamma wrapped around his finger(?)


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

game changer

water is always an issue
drinking water that is

I've got an old katadyn filter bottle that has served me well
ben over at az wanderings did a review of his

which sparked a very interesting discussion 
on a local fishing board
extolling the virtues of the steripen 

since then, I've been fortunate enough to receive a steripen 
at no cost - my favorite way to get things - and it is a deal changer for sure
I never even minded pumping 
but this thing is so easy to use
push a button swish swish swish 
90 seconds later you've got purified water


notice that the steripen slides neatly into the bottle when it is not in use


when I call it a game changer - here's why...
we spent four nights upriver at the ferry and did not bring any water
none

I must mention a caveat
the wand won't fit in some water bottles
make sure you have at least one that works
I was lucky that way

that's awesome
and thanks buddy for the great gift
I owe you at least one mang

Sunday, October 7, 2012

fishing the cathedral again

this will be my fourth trip to the ferry this year
and to be entirely honest about things
I've fished like shit

my head and heart haven't been in it
too lazy or stubborn
jrunk and stoo-pit
to adjust my tackle accordingly

distractions
fatigue?
a lack of interest?

I dunno
what I do know is that I don't like it

  that all changes tomorrow

last time up I was on the colorado river
for nineteen daze 
and picked up a rod maybe twice
nearly traveled the river from dam to dam 
and didn't even bother trying to fish

that's pathetic at worst
lame at best

my head hasn't been in the fishing place
it's been elsewhere...
on what again I dunno
it just hasn't been on fishing

I look at this as an opportunity to regain my fishing mojo
it doesn't matter how well you tie flies
or build rods
if you don't put them to proper use

anyways...let's get it on

thanks chad and van ness flyrods for the invite
I appreciate it

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

ye olde rod shoppe that wrocks

october gets me to thinking of rodbuilding
the gruntwork eh?  the fun stuff if you will
 dropping temperatures have me checking the garage
periodically for temperature

still a mite warm
during lazyass hours

there's one lonely rod on the project list
and I'm itching to get down to it
may be a few daze though as the cathedral is beckoning
and the countdown is on