08 MAY 2016, 09:07 AM
Amazing trip, amazing lady. A gift I do not think I am worthy of but appreciate none the less.

This is a trip for my birthday, a gift from my wonderful wife. Shari arranged for us to stay at our beloved Richmond Inn where were able to fish and enjoy the company of old friends again.

We spent our day and a half fishing a wonderful little stretch of stream that has easy access within the town limits.

The stream is a delayed harvest and was still closed to the meat hunters for one more month so I knew the catching would be good but then I am reminded; “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after” (Henry David Thoreau).

As I predicted, the catching was good but the fishing was much better. Watching my wife cast and catch fish is a wonderful experience. The shear determination in every movement of the flyrod, the playful disappointment at the loss of a strike. Blue skies, subtle breezes and productive mayfly hatches all made for an excellent fishing trip.

It seems though that as soon as it starts, the trip must end. It is always a difficult time to have to say goodbye to Ms. Maggie, our hostess at the Richmond Inn as well as the mountains that hold our hope and dreams (not to mention our sanity).

We gather the last of our things, look silently about our room to make sure we arn’t leaving anything behind but all we are really searching for is a reason not to go.

We open the door and step across the threshold, back to where reality lies and the lonesome sound of the door closing for the last time….for now.