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I wrote this piece a few years ago and came across it the other day. It still has relevance as I sit here at work wishing I was on the water somewhere. The good news is I'm heading south this afternoon to spend three days where the water doesn't resemble chocolate milk.
I also posted this piece here and will adding more in the near future...
When it seems like everything in your life is total blur. Everything is happening so fast that you feel like your racing down a highway at a hundred miles per hour. You catch a glimpse of things here and there, but nothing seems to make any sense or have meaning.
Life’s throwing so many things at you at once you feel overwhelmed. It’s like you’re at a buffet that has all your favorite foods combined in one place. You walk down the aisles contemplating what to eat, but with so many good choices you throw a little of everything on your platter and before you know it its piled high and too much to handle. You get the feeling that you’re just a helpless bystander of your own existence.
There’s only one place you want to be when everything is crashing down on you at once. The place that helps you to get away from it all and clear your mind from all the world’s pressures. The place that makes you feel like a new person and gives you a renewed sense of meaning and worth.
The feeling you get inside every time you go to this place is like no other. It’s like you’re in another world. You feel at peace with your surroundings. It’s this feeling that lets you know you’re alive.
When you’re at this place you wouldn’t trade seats with anybody else in the world. You don’t have a care in the world. All your worries erased. All your problems gone. Nothing else matters. Ahh, that great place all too familiar but yet so distant in your memory.
Fishing in its purest form is you against Mother Nature. You armed with a rod and reel, and Mother Nature with her elements: tides, wind, current, barometric pressure, rain, cloud cover and everything else she has in her arsenal she can dish at you over the course of a day. Your ability to combat these external forces is what makes you successful or leaves you in the dust of her wrath. But success is not solely based on the number of fish caught. Sure, catching adds to the experience but just being in her elements is more than enough to satisfy your craving.
You have no obligations tomorrow, so you decide it’s been long enough. It’s time to acquaint yourself with this wonderful place. You load everything up the night before going through your mental checklist making sure you haven’t forgotten anything. You don’t get horizontal until after all preparations are complete.
You feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. You toss and turn all night opening your eyes every so often to see if it’s time to get up and head out for the day’s adventure. You’re so excited about the prospect of being able to get on the water that you’re up and can’t go back to bed long before you hear the clangor of the alarm clock. You go through your morning routine and then hit the road as quickly as possible for the journey ahead.
As you make the drive to your favorite fishing hole you think about all the memories this special place has brought you over the years. The spot that over the years hasn’t let you down very many times. The spot you can count on to produce even in the toughest conditions.
You pull off the highway and start making your way down a tattered, dirt road that leads you to what feels like the Promised Land, but it only dead ends to the water. You bring your truck to a stop and crack open the door to get that fresh salty breeze running down your nostrils for the first time in what seems like forever. You get out of your truck and quickly unload everything you’re going to need for battle ahead.
With everything unloaded and ready you jump in the water with your heart beating as if you just run a marathon. You’re on the water well before daylight when most souls are still at rest. All your other senses are significantly magnified due to the darkness and silence in the air. You hear every bug buzz by, every blade of grass move, and every splash in the distance. You feel every breeze and drop of water hit your body. With every breath you inhale the aroma of salt and marine life that’s in the air.
You make you way to favorite area just as the sky begins to light. You begin to see the tell-tale signs that fish are in the area: nervous water, the occasional fleeing of bait fish, and birds hovering above. As the sun begins to peak over the horizon you sit back and enjoy one of the universe’s most magical performances. A new day has begun. You can’t but help to think about possibilities that lie ahead.
You’re so overcome by your emotions you temporarily forget the reason you are here. You regain your concentration and make your first cast to a swirl in the distance. Your cast lands nowhere near your intended target due to your prolonged absence. You shake off the rust and make another cast but it still comes up a little short. As you’re about to make your third cast, in the distance, you hear the sound of a constant beeping. Beep, beep, beep.
The sound seems to be getting louder and louder. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. You open your eyes and turn your head to see the alarm clock shows 6:00am. It’s time to get out of bed and get ready for work.
This feeling is all you think about daily. It makes bad days better. It makes major problems feel like minor annoyances. It keeps the work week bearable and puts life into perspective. It’s engraved in your soul. It runs through your veins. You can’t get this feeling anywhere else.
You are an addict.
I also posted this piece here and will adding more in the near future...
When it seems like everything in your life is total blur. Everything is happening so fast that you feel like your racing down a highway at a hundred miles per hour. You catch a glimpse of things here and there, but nothing seems to make any sense or have meaning.
Life’s throwing so many things at you at once you feel overwhelmed. It’s like you’re at a buffet that has all your favorite foods combined in one place. You walk down the aisles contemplating what to eat, but with so many good choices you throw a little of everything on your platter and before you know it its piled high and too much to handle. You get the feeling that you’re just a helpless bystander of your own existence.
There’s only one place you want to be when everything is crashing down on you at once. The place that helps you to get away from it all and clear your mind from all the world’s pressures. The place that makes you feel like a new person and gives you a renewed sense of meaning and worth.
The feeling you get inside every time you go to this place is like no other. It’s like you’re in another world. You feel at peace with your surroundings. It’s this feeling that lets you know you’re alive.
When you’re at this place you wouldn’t trade seats with anybody else in the world. You don’t have a care in the world. All your worries erased. All your problems gone. Nothing else matters. Ahh, that great place all too familiar but yet so distant in your memory.
Fishing in its purest form is you against Mother Nature. You armed with a rod and reel, and Mother Nature with her elements: tides, wind, current, barometric pressure, rain, cloud cover and everything else she has in her arsenal she can dish at you over the course of a day. Your ability to combat these external forces is what makes you successful or leaves you in the dust of her wrath. But success is not solely based on the number of fish caught. Sure, catching adds to the experience but just being in her elements is more than enough to satisfy your craving.
You have no obligations tomorrow, so you decide it’s been long enough. It’s time to acquaint yourself with this wonderful place. You load everything up the night before going through your mental checklist making sure you haven’t forgotten anything. You don’t get horizontal until after all preparations are complete.
You feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. You toss and turn all night opening your eyes every so often to see if it’s time to get up and head out for the day’s adventure. You’re so excited about the prospect of being able to get on the water that you’re up and can’t go back to bed long before you hear the clangor of the alarm clock. You go through your morning routine and then hit the road as quickly as possible for the journey ahead.
As you make the drive to your favorite fishing hole you think about all the memories this special place has brought you over the years. The spot that over the years hasn’t let you down very many times. The spot you can count on to produce even in the toughest conditions.
You pull off the highway and start making your way down a tattered, dirt road that leads you to what feels like the Promised Land, but it only dead ends to the water. You bring your truck to a stop and crack open the door to get that fresh salty breeze running down your nostrils for the first time in what seems like forever. You get out of your truck and quickly unload everything you’re going to need for battle ahead.
With everything unloaded and ready you jump in the water with your heart beating as if you just run a marathon. You’re on the water well before daylight when most souls are still at rest. All your other senses are significantly magnified due to the darkness and silence in the air. You hear every bug buzz by, every blade of grass move, and every splash in the distance. You feel every breeze and drop of water hit your body. With every breath you inhale the aroma of salt and marine life that’s in the air.
You make you way to favorite area just as the sky begins to light. You begin to see the tell-tale signs that fish are in the area: nervous water, the occasional fleeing of bait fish, and birds hovering above. As the sun begins to peak over the horizon you sit back and enjoy one of the universe’s most magical performances. A new day has begun. You can’t but help to think about possibilities that lie ahead.
You’re so overcome by your emotions you temporarily forget the reason you are here. You regain your concentration and make your first cast to a swirl in the distance. Your cast lands nowhere near your intended target due to your prolonged absence. You shake off the rust and make another cast but it still comes up a little short. As you’re about to make your third cast, in the distance, you hear the sound of a constant beeping. Beep, beep, beep.
The sound seems to be getting louder and louder. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. You open your eyes and turn your head to see the alarm clock shows 6:00am. It’s time to get out of bed and get ready for work.
This feeling is all you think about daily. It makes bad days better. It makes major problems feel like minor annoyances. It keeps the work week bearable and puts life into perspective. It’s engraved in your soul. It runs through your veins. You can’t get this feeling anywhere else.
You are an addict.
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