Welcome to Saturday ...

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 6:50am

Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; And only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries. ~ Elizabeth Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning letter describing lonely quarantine up for sale

Auctioneers say 1839 letter to her cousin bemoaning isolation in Torquay, with visitors ‘a thing forbidden’, is very apt reading this year.

Almost 200 years ago, the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett – now best known by her married name of Elizabeth Barrett Browning – was bemoaning the loneliness of self-isolation, in a letter to her cousin that is now up for auction.

As the people of the UK continue to sit out the coronavirus pandemic in their homes, the three-page missive, due to be sold at Bonhams in London next week, sees Barrett describing a period that lasted for weeks on end, as a result of what appears to have been ulcerative tuberculosis. After falling ill, she left London for Torquay’s sea air in August 1838, writing to her cousin and friend John Kenyon about her lonely life on 10 June 1839.https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/dec/10/elizabeth-barrett-browning...

'Christmas Star' to Grace Night Sky on Winter Solstic

On Dec. 21, a bright "Christmas star" will appear in the night sky – something that hasn’t happened in nearly 800 years. https://weather.com/science/space/video/christmas-star-to-grace-night-sk...

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me. W.H. Auden

How strong, vital, enduring! how dumbly eloquent! What suggestions of imperturbability and being, as against the human trait of mere seeming. Then the qualities, almost emotional, palpably artistic, heroic, of a tree; so innocent and harmless, yet so savage. It is, yet says nothing. ~ Walt Whitman

~~~

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Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 7:07am

Good morning,

Today's art: Art Young, 1866–1943

Young enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Design in 1884, where he studied under J. H. Vanderpoel. His first published cartoon appeared the same year in the trade paper, Nimble Nickel. Also in that same year, he began working for a succession of Chicago newspapers including the Evening Mail, the Daily News, and the Tribune.

In 1888, Young resumed his studies, first at the Art Students League of New York (until 1889), then at the Académie Julian in Paris (1889–90). Following a long convalescence, he joined the Chicago Inter-Ocean (1892), to which he contributed political cartoons and drawings for its Sunday color supplement.

In 1895 he married Elizabeth North. In 1895 or 1896, he worked briefly for the Denver Times, then moved again to New York City after his separation with North, where he sold drawings to the humor magazines Puck, Life, and Judge, and drew cartoons for William Randolph Hearst's New York Evening Journal and Sunday New York American. From 1902 to 1906, Young studied rhetoric at Cooper Union to improve his skills as a cartoonist.
The Masses
Political cartoon by Art Young, first published in Young's magazine, Good Morning, Aug. 1921

Young started out as a generally apolitical Republican, but gradually became interested in left wing ideas, and by 1906 or so considered himself a socialist. Young would begin increasingly to associate with such political leftist as John Sloan and Piet Vlag, both of whom he would work with at the radical socialist monthly, The Masses. He became firmly ensconced in the radical environment of Greenwich Village after moving there in 1910. He became politically active, and by 1910, racial and sexual discrimination and the apparent injustices of the capitalist system became prevalent themes in his work. Young would explain these sentiments in his autobiography, Art Young: His Life and Times (1939),

I am antagonistic to the money-making fetish because it sidetracks our natural selves, leaving us no alternative but to accept the situation and take any kind of work for a weekly wage [...] We are caught and hurt by the system, and the more sensitive we are to life's highest values the harder it is to bear the abuse.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Young

~~~

Another marvelous sunrise, 70 degrees and eating fish i catch: replaced the Shimano reel that's been with me forty-five years landing fish from Oregon to New England, even Stripers in Arkansas. The new Shimano feels equally as smooth, lots of bearing, now for forty-five years more

Have a great day, everyone.

Submitted by travelerxxx on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 3:55pm

Little jewels

@smiley7

Surprised you actually wore out a Shimano. I've never seen one give it up. My only Japanese reel is my lovely, tiny, Daiwa. It's meant for panfish, wound with two pound test. It's pushing 40 years old now, and good as new. If anything ever goes on it it will be the drag system as the super-light line requires judicious use of it. If a bass hits, it will be nearly smoking before the battle ends.

Today's art: Art Young, 1866–1943 Young enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Design in 1884, where he studied under J. H. Vanderpoel. His first published cartoon appeared the same year in the trade paper, Nimble Nickel. Also in that same year, he began working for a succession of Chicago newspapers including the Evening Mail, the Daily News, and the Tribune. In 1888, Young resumed his studies, first at the Art Students League of New York (until 1889), then at the Académie Julian in Paris (1889–90). Following a long convalescence, he joined the Chicago Inter-Ocean (1892), to which he contributed political cartoons and drawings for its Sunday color supplement. In 1895 he married Elizabeth North. In 1895 or 1896, he worked briefly for the Denver Times, then moved again to New York City after his separation with North, where he sold drawings to the humor magazines Puck, Life, and Judge, and drew cartoons for William Randolph Hearst's New York Evening Journal and Sunday New York American. From 1902 to 1906, Young studied rhetoric at Cooper Union to improve his skills as a cartoonist. The Masses Political cartoon by Art Young, first published in Young's magazine, Good Morning, Aug. 1921 Young started out as a generally apolitical Republican, but gradually became interested in left wing ideas, and by 1906 or so considered himself a socialist. Young would begin increasingly to associate with such political leftist as John Sloan and Piet Vlag, both of whom he would work with at the radical socialist monthly, The Masses. He became firmly ensconced in the radical environment of Greenwich Village after moving there in 1910. He became politically active, and by 1910, racial and sexual discrimination and the apparent injustices of the capitalist system became prevalent themes in his work. Young would explain these sentiments in his autobiography, Art Young: His Life and Times (1939), I am antagonistic to the money-making fetish because it sidetracks our natural selves, leaving us no alternative but to accept the situation and take any kind of work for a weekly wage [...] We are caught and hurt by the system, and the more sensitive we are to life's highest values the harder it is to bear the abuse.[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Young ~~~ Another marvelous sunrise, 70 degrees and eating fish i catch: replaced the Shimano reel that's been with me forty-five years landing fish from Oregon to New England, even Stripers in Arkansas. The new Shimano feels equally as smooth, lots of bearing, now for forty-five years more Have a great day, everyone.

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 5:01pm

Spot on, nothing like fighting a big one on light

@travelerxxx

gear, 7x fly-fishing tippet and huge trout, for instance; your comment brings big smiles.

Yes to our neighbors, the Japanese fishing products and prowess.

Walked a long way to fish the mouth of an inlet today; but, got skunked for my effort; must learn how to find the fish, and when, in this new environ.

Good to see you, as always; you bring good cheer.

Submitted by travelerxxx on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 5:17pm

All good.

@smiley7

Walked a long way to fish the mouth of an inlet today...

A reward right there!

but, got skunked for my effort...

Not necessarily a loss unless you're quite hungry.

...must learn how to find the fish, and when, in this new environ.

And you get to go back!

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 7:44am

dang, i'm rusty, published this more than an hour ago, i thought

but returning to check on comments, i see i didn't follow through on the publish button. Sorry, i'm late.

So, have a great one a second time.

Submitted by QMS on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 8:30am

Love the imagery

speaking of reels, I have this fly fishing reel from my grandfather made around 1930 by Perrine MFG Co around 1930. I have never tried to fly fish, probably never will. If you know someone who may like it, am willing to send it along. Trying to clean out the shop.

thanks for the card!

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 8:46am

Good morning, QMS,

That's a cool looking reel, is it a self retrieve model? Not really very knowledgeable about old gear, was gifted quite a bit my an old buddy and it's a project yet to accomplish.

Doing well on pan fish, trying to learn the ropes of fishing inlets and surf. Geared up very well; learning to tie different rigs, keeps me occupied. Going to try the mouth of the inlet around noon today, we'll see what happens. Great to have wonderful weather.

Tight lines, my friend, tight lines.

Submitted by QMS on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 8:59am

Yeah, self re-winding

@smiley7

it's in pretty good shape for something 90 years old.
Probably landed a few trout over it's lifetime.
If you know of someone interested...

Good luck with the surf casting!

Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 8:55am

Good morning, smiley ~~

A New World Births

The planets are aligning
conjuncting, as it were.
Their brilliance will be seen
throughout the earth,
their magnetism reaching us,
raising our frequency.
Air is the key word
to the change that is coming.
Embrace the new world,
recognize the unity consciousness;
align with the consciousness;
align with the divine plan.
Receive the inspiration
flowing through you.
Surrender to the energies,
release all resentments,
accept the new era,
love is the eternal life force
that becomes the coherence
in our life.

Enjoy the day!

—

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Submitted by QMS on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 9:10am

Very cool RA

@Raggedy Ann

the winter solstice is going to give us a great conjunction
with Jupiter and Saturn close enough to appear as a single star.

2020 brings the closest Jupiter-Saturn conjunction since 1623, during Galileo’s times.

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 10:02am

Good morning, RA,

@Raggedy Ann

Air is the key word
to the change that is coming.
Embrace the new world ...

Lovely, air is often neglected, water being used more; it is life sustaining; appreciate your thoughts.

Enjoy your day.

Submitted by Lookout on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 9:03am

good morning...

Nice art and poetry smiley. Nice to have you back on Saturdays.

Drizzle here, but we can do with the moisture. A real rain coming tomorrow (they say).

First person in my crowd came down with the COVID. He's about 50 and the community car mechanic. He is a smoker. So far he's having mild symptoms. I hope he gets over it soon. He never wore a mask either.

We as a nation just are not being smart. Well, hope you're doing well. Sounds like you've enjoyed your coastal venture. Looks like snow in the highlands.

All the best to everyone!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 10:09am

Good morning, Lookout,

@Lookout

Best wishes for your friend's recovery. I've gone to wearing double-masks, one n95 over surgical one. I've a supply of surgical ones, but the n95's are precious. This helps prevent the n95 from becoming wet.

Enjoy this good weather while it last and continue to be as safe as one can be.

Submitted by randtntx on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 9:06am

Good Morning smiley,

Thank you for a beautiful OT. Very striking. What a cool Elizabeth Barrett Browning quote. I had not seen that. As you mentioned EBB lived during the Victorian era and quietly struggled against the constraints of that society. Persistent and insistent, she won her freedom from some of those constraints.

...I could not hide
My quickening inner life from those at watch.
They saw a light at a window now and then,
They had not set there. Who had set it there?
My father’s sister started when she caught
My soul agaze in my eyes. She could not say
I had no business with a sort of soul,
But plainly she objected,–and demurred,
That souls were dangerous things to carry straight
Through all the spilt saltpetre of the world.
She said sometimes, ‘Aurora, have you done
Your task this morning?–have you read that book?
And are you ready for the crochet here?’–
As if she said, ‘I know there’s something wrong,
I know I have not ground you down enough
To flatten and bake you to a wholesome crust
For household uses and proprieties,
Before the rain has got into my barn
And set the grains a-sprouting. What, you’re green
With out-door impudence? you almost grow?’
To which I answered, ‘Would she hear my task,
And verify my abstract of the book?
And should I sit down to the crochet work?
Was such her pleasure?’ ... Then I sate and teased
The patient needle til it split the thread,
Which oozed off from it in meandering lace
From hour to hour. I was not, therefore, sad;
My soul was singing at a work apart
Behind the wall of sense, as safe from harm
As sings the lark when sucked up out of sight,
In vortices of glory and blue air.
And so, through forced work and spontaneous work,
The inner life informed the outer life,
Reduced the irregular blood to settled rhythms,
Made cool the forehead with fresh-sprinkling dreams,
And, rounding to the spheric soul the thin
Pined body, struck a colour up the cheeks,
Though somewhat faint. I clenched my brows across
My blue eyes greatening in the looking-glass,
And said, ‘We’ll live, Aurora! we’ll be strong.
The dogs are on us–but we will not die.’

From Aurora Leigh, First Book

Submitted by QMS on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 9:30am

Nice poetry Rand

@randtntx

the inner exposing the outer

Here's another in the fish vein..

A Display of Mackeral, by Mark Doty

They lie in parallel rows,

on ice, head to tail,

each a foot of luminosity
barred with black bands,
which divide the scales'
radiant sections

like seams of lead
in a Tiffany window.
Iridescent, watery

prismatics: think abalone,
the wildly rainbowed
mirror of a soap-bubble sphere,

think sun on gasoline.
Splendor, and splendor,
and not a one in any way

distinguished from the other
--nothing about them
of individuality. Instead

they're all exact expressions
of the one soul,
each a perfect fulfillment

of heaven's template,
mackerel essence. As if,
after a lifetime arriving

at this enameling, the jeweler's
made uncountable examples
each as intricate

in its oily fabulation
as the one before;
a cosmos of champleve.

Suppose we could iridesce,
like these, and lose ourselves
entirely in the universe

of shimmer--would you want
to be yourself only,
unduplicatable, doomed

to be lost? They'd prefer,
plainly, to be flashing participants,
multitudinous. Even on ice
they seem to be bolting
forward, heedless of stasis.
They don't care they're dead

and nearly frozen,
just as, presumably,
they didn't care that they were living:

all, all for all,
the rainbowed school
and its acres of brilliant classrooms,

in which no verb is singular,
or every one is. How happy they seem,
even on ice, to be together, selfless,

which is the price of gleaming.

Thank you for a beautiful OT. Very striking. What a cool Elizabeth Barrett Browning quote. I had not seen that. As you mentioned EBB lived during the Victorian era and quietly struggled against the constraints of that society. Persistent and insistent, she won her freedom from some of those constraints. ...I could not hide My quickening inner life from those at watch. They saw a light at a window now and then, They had not set there. Who had set it there? My father’s sister started when she caught My soul agaze in my eyes. She could not say I had no business with a sort of soul, But plainly she objected,–and demurred, That souls were dangerous things to carry straight Through all the spilt saltpetre of the world. She said sometimes, ‘Aurora, have you done Your task this morning?–have you read that book? And are you ready for the crochet here?’– As if she said, ‘I know there’s something wrong, I know I have not ground you down enough To flatten and bake you to a wholesome crust For household uses and proprieties, Before the rain has got into my barn And set the grains a-sprouting. What, you’re green With out-door impudence? you almost grow?’ To which I answered, ‘Would she hear my task, And verify my abstract of the book? And should I sit down to the crochet work? Was such her pleasure?’ ... Then I sate and teased The patient needle til it split the thread, Which oozed off from it in meandering lace From hour to hour. I was not, therefore, sad; My soul was singing at a work apart Behind the wall of sense, as safe from harm As sings the lark when sucked up out of sight, In vortices of glory and blue air. And so, through forced work and spontaneous work, The inner life informed the outer life, Reduced the irregular blood to settled rhythms, Made cool the forehead with fresh-sprinkling dreams, And, rounding to the spheric soul the thin Pined body, struck a colour up the cheeks, Though somewhat faint. I clenched my brows across My blue eyes greatening in the looking-glass, And said, ‘We’ll live, Aurora! we’ll be strong. The dogs are on us–but we will not die.’ From Aurora Leigh, First Book

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 10:17am

QMS,

@QMS

in which no verb is singular,
or every one is. How happy they seem,
even on ice, to be together, selfless,

which is the price of gleaming.

Chill bumps in reading this; salute and cheers.

Submitted by randtntx on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 3:25pm

Cheers to the poets

@QMS and those artists that can convey these ideas more fully than many others.
Nice poem yourself. How beautiful is this?

As if,
after a lifetime arriving

at this enameling, the jeweler's
made uncountable examples
each as intricate

in its oily fabulation
as the one before;
a cosmos of champleve.

TY, the whole piece, each word...so good. Respect for the fish, the essence of mackerel.

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 10:14am

Moving poetry, randtntx,

@randtntx

Just what the doctor ordered, being in touch with the soul. Thank you for sharing.

Food for thought for today.

Take good care and be safe out there.

Thank you for a beautiful OT. Very striking. What a cool Elizabeth Barrett Browning quote. I had not seen that. As you mentioned EBB lived during the Victorian era and quietly struggled against the constraints of that society. Persistent and insistent, she won her freedom from some of those constraints. ...I could not hide My quickening inner life from those at watch. They saw a light at a window now and then, They had not set there. Who had set it there? My father’s sister started when she caught My soul agaze in my eyes. She could not say I had no business with a sort of soul, But plainly she objected,–and demurred, That souls were dangerous things to carry straight Through all the spilt saltpetre of the world. She said sometimes, ‘Aurora, have you done Your task this morning?–have you read that book? And are you ready for the crochet here?’– As if she said, ‘I know there’s something wrong, I know I have not ground you down enough To flatten and bake you to a wholesome crust For household uses and proprieties, Before the rain has got into my barn And set the grains a-sprouting. What, you’re green With out-door impudence? you almost grow?’ To which I answered, ‘Would she hear my task, And verify my abstract of the book? And should I sit down to the crochet work? Was such her pleasure?’ ... Then I sate and teased The patient needle til it split the thread, Which oozed off from it in meandering lace From hour to hour. I was not, therefore, sad; My soul was singing at a work apart Behind the wall of sense, as safe from harm As sings the lark when sucked up out of sight, In vortices of glory and blue air. And so, through forced work and spontaneous work, The inner life informed the outer life, Reduced the irregular blood to settled rhythms, Made cool the forehead with fresh-sprinkling dreams, And, rounding to the spheric soul the thin Pined body, struck a colour up the cheeks, Though somewhat faint. I clenched my brows across My blue eyes greatening in the looking-glass, And said, ‘We’ll live, Aurora! we’ll be strong. The dogs are on us–but we will not die.’ From Aurora Leigh, First Book

Submitted by randtntx on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 9:43am

edited

for duplicate comment

Submitted by randtntx on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 9:42am

Thanks for the astronomy info

smiley and QMS. It will be sky watching nights from now until the solstice with the interesting positioning of the Moon and Venus. Look to the southwest sky on the solstice as well. https://earthsky.org/tonight

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 10:19am

cool beans, cheers for the link,

@randtntx

now i've an expansive view, i wish to absorb and learn more about the guiding sky.

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 10:21am

Off to commune with the fishes, will return in late afternoon

to read and comment; please carry on ...

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 1:09pm

Good morning smiley, good to have you back. A great column

today. Glad you're getting out and fishing and enjoying both the pastime and the product. Just brought home some fish myself, but from the farmers' market, and nothing I could catch from shore even if I tried.

We had a little bit of rain overnight, which is good, we need a ton of rain, but in small quanta so as not to cause wash-outs after all the fires.

be well and have a good one.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 5:10pm

Good afternoon, el,

@enhydra lutris

Been a sky-dancing day here, the sunrise especially colorful only matched by its setting.

Not sure which i enjoy most cooking fish, catching fish or eating fish; all pleasures.

Hope the heavens bring you the needed rain.

Forgive me for not stopping in the daily OT's, been a child in a candy store with all this water around, must be a fish in there somewhere.

Be safe great friend.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 6:55pm

Hey, hard lesson to learn at times, but, ya know, life always

@smiley7

comes first. You know, folks get to talking about things was and you don't want to be spending any more time than you already do thinking, "gee, how'd I miss that?; oh yeahI was off doing this oh so important thing that, in retrospect, didn't really change the world one damn bit." Did too much of that already.

be well and have a good one

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by janis b on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 4:20pm

Hi smiley

Thank you for your Saturday injection of art and soul.

I enjoyed the art work of Young’s very much. It’s quite somber but poignant. For anyone interested, you can download his autobiography for free at archive.org
https://archive.org/details/artyounghislifea029028mbp

Enjoy the weekend all.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 6:50pm

Thanks for that info Janis.

@smiley7 @janis b

be well and have a good one.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 6:59pm

Been a marvelous thread, janis, thanks to all!

@janis b

Submitted by magiamma on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 7:25pm

Late howdy-do

We finally got rain and more to come. Woo hoo. Sounds marvelous. East looks west; west looks east. See the sea. It’s all one. Enjoy your fishing smiley. Take good care.

—

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 7:39pm

Good, you're here, happy rain falls when

@magiamma

needed or when not needed as do friends.

Feng shui; your comment prompted thinking of this good philosophy: a practice of arranging the pieces in living spaces in order to create balance with the natural world.

Sharing a refrain running in my head of late: "Sunrise, sunset, swiftly go the days, one season following another, laden with happiness and tears."

Dancing in the rain ...

Submitted by magiamma on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 8:18pm

They don’t make them like this anymore

@smiley7
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w40ushYAaYA]

—

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 8:44pm

Cheers, been decades since i watched

@magiamma

that performance: "How sweet is is," and can be.

Thank you.

Submitted by Dawn's Meta on Mon, 12/14/2020 - 7:21am

The happiness of watching for, catching and eating fresh fish

is incalculable. Thanks for sharing your joy. It brings back memories from times in the way back.

In a former life, with a former husband, we fished - a lot. Pacific Salmon: from Northern California to the tip of Vancouver Island. He formed a small guiding company out of Ketchikan in the Tongass (when the powers of good were fighting for protected status of said wilderness).

The Bristol Bay Watershed is a thing of wonder. There are many 80 to 120 mile streams which start in the Tundra and end in the bay. The are a week or more float and camp from put in to dump at the shore. Fish species change from up stream to ocean returns as floaters move from inland to sea.

What got me thinking about this is the number of people who waded into the pebble-bottomed streams as Coho/Silvers moved into streams in pods. A fisherman could look past the sand to the breakers and see the dark mass of incoming Silvers, raising the water level as they moved in.

The big deal was to see the biggest fish which could be caught on the lightest fly setup possible. Yearly competition with the odds going up every year, so many tried.

I tried spin/casting early in NW mountain streams for Trout. But when I started learning to boat and trailer handle and started catching Salmon, that's all she wrote. Trolling and jigging plus Hog-lining after that.

I do so miss being out there. I was miserable a lot but loved the excitement of the life in the water and the action of the water. The fish were beautiful. The ocean was cleaner. Saw a lot of things had I not pushed my fear of water I would never have seen.

Thank you for a lovely essay and thread.

—

A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.

Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.

Submitted by smiley7 on Mon, 12/14/2020 - 6:14pm

Dawn, belated reply to your wonderful post; we've

@Dawn's Meta

much in common over our years; and since the world can be small, perhaps you know my dear fly-fishing twins with whom i worked as a guide, pictured below in Alaska.

Besides running a guide service in our Grandfather area of the Appalachians, the twins have owned a special permit for the Kanektok River for decades. They also run a service in the Caribbean for Bonefish. Great people, storytellers cooks and fishermen, as well as friends. We've all grown much older.

A brief description of the trips written by a previous guest:

We flew from Boston to Anchorage, via Seattle, did some sightseeing (more on that below), and then flew the ~300 miles from Anchorage to Dillingham, home of the largest salmon fishing fleet in the world. This fleet, comprised of boats no longer than 32 feet (chopped off in some "interesting" ways to comply with this law) is used only two weeks a year and spends the rest of the time in drydock! There are no roads to Dillingham, everything there comes in by air or by sea.
After a surprisingly delightful B&B stay, we boarded the Otter, a float plane for the trip to Kagati/Pegati Lakes, the headwaters of the Kanektok. The float, shown in blue on the map, was about 95 miles.

[...]
Our trip for the first five days was within the Togiak and Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuges. Only five outfitters are licensed to operate in the Refuge and two of them were teamed together for our trip. We didn't see anyone else for the first four days. No permanent campsites were employed, we camped on the gravel bars and attempted to leave no trace of our passing, setting up camp each evening and tearing it down in the morning. Because of the vagaries of Alaskan weather and mountain air travel no river travel was planned for the first day. Just as well perhaps as the winds howled and the rain came down from arrival around noon until the next morning. A fairly large tent housed the kitchen and dining hall, we slept (on cots, thankfully--the floor was constantly wet) in the green tents shown above. A smaller tent housed the latrine and shower (!) facility. The rafts were 18 foot Avon's with rowing frames and substantial cargo capacity (nice boats!). Normally these trips have six guests and three guides, but the week we went there were only three guests, so the guides had a bit easier time of it and we got some extra attention.

Hope this stirs a few good memories as your post brought big smiles inside and memories.

Next, after Covid, must return to Europe ...

As always a pleasure to see you.