Autumn Intermezzo

THE BUSTLING HIATUS

Waxing Poetic ?

just do it all

SMOKE FILLED SKIES - CROWDED PARKING - HEROIC FISH

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.. Trapped between blistering Summer Days and pipe-bursting Winter Nights is the season of celebration here in the high country. You will hear it time and again "IT'S MY FAVORITE SEASON!"

BIG FISH BEND

.. Could be. This is the time for the media to sink into praise of the natural world. Beauty seems to be the theme of most poesy.
.. We're not good at spinning the glories of the season. We do, however, participate in the offerings of the moment.
.. There's grouse to pluck, (and eat.) There's deer and elk to gut, and dress, and freeze, and eat. There's fish to torture with a relish and abandon not seen in the previous few months. There's gawking, walking, hiking, birding, and hunting.
.. Honking from the sky is a sure signal. Quacking over the marshes and willow flats is a signal. Diminished traffic and fewer school-aged hooligans in the village is a sign. Crusty farts in rubber pants in the dim pubs is a sign. Fall is upon us and the colors will fade as quickly as they have come.

LITTLE FISH BEND

.. We are drawn to the rivers, (but not to the exclusion of other bits of the neighborhood.)
.. We clog the air filter of our trusty horse along the dusty forest roads, (those that are still open.)
.. We ascend to the berry patches for a quart or two of blue gold, (sparse as they are in this dry year.) We sing to the bears and hope that they move on.
.. This is the season to cram it all in. Football looms large, (homecoming in another week.) BBQ's become focal as the chilly air threatens to limit the opportunity in the near future.
.. Smokers are cleaned and the slime of the Mountain Whitefish becomes a sought after treasure. There are, indeed, Whitefish hoarders.

TIE IT SMALL

.. Coolant, battery blankets, block heaters, and tires become a bit of concern as the sky lowers and darkens it's clouds. Calking, heat tape, and snow blowers vie for our attention, along with shovels, shoes, coats, and skates. Where did we put the ski boots?
.. The autumnal equinox is on September 22, this year. That will leave just 100 days until 2013 and we will have escaped the end of the world one more time. Don't hold your breath.
.. Feather merchants are in the final push for sales, and guides are already leaving the scene for more salubrious climes. Fishing is winding down and up. The Fall Fishing Frenzy will hit hard in the next three weeks. The summer fishers will seek solace elsewhere. And, so it goes.

WANT BIG FISH AT DUSK ??

.. We need to post this now. Resident fish are eating small nymphs, size 22 Tricos, and chasing stripped Matuka flies.
.. Migrating runners are eating anything big and ugly as they move into the sex rooms of proper gravel and flow.
.. There's a lot to do and, as usual, not enough time to do it in!
.. And, yes, it's mouse time again.

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JUST THE WAY THE SKY SHOULD LOOK!  IT LEAKS A LITTLE TOO.