Get Lost

PERFECT IMMERSION

A Mind Meld ?

is it zen ?

WALLPAPER:  GOOD TOOLS

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.. Fall brings competition for outdoor activities: Fishing, Hunting, Hiking, Biking, etc. Some folks even combine activities: biking/hunting, fishing/hunting, biking/fishing, etc.
.. Of late we seldom hunt. We do fish and shoot competitively. The still cool air is conducive to both.
.. There are moments, sometimes hours or days, when we get lost in our chosen pastime. The targets seem larger, the fish seem more willing, our selected tools get absorbed into our very being and, all is right with the world.
.. We've been told it is a zen moment. If so, so be it. What we do know is that it is a condition where anticipation and anxiety disappear. We don't anticipate the strike of the fish or the strike of the bullet. There is no need for anticipation because the occurrence is a foregone conclusion. There is no anxiety about the outcome .
. . sigh!

PERFECT FORM

.. Anticipation is a powerful condition: both physically and mentally. Tense and anxious we lose sight and focus on just what it is we are doing.
.. We somehow feel that trigger pull is most important.
.. We somehow feel that the back cast is most important.
.. Then we feel that breathing is most important.
.. Or we feel that line speed is most important.
.. Then again we might reconsider the ammunition or the fly selection. These factors are really secondary to doing what we are doing.
.. In 1988 Dan Wieden coined the phrase, "JUST DO IT," for a Nike advertising campaign. Aside from the push as a fashion statement there is a greater truth in the phrase.
.. Immersion in the moment is a wonderful bit of existence. Right now, around  our village,  we see so many folks anticipating rather than doing. When the various bits of impedimenta fall away from the activity - the activity will swallow us up.
.. For some reason the Autumn brings about this relaxed participation in our own outdoor activity. We seem to catch more fish, (and it matters not.) We hit the bull more consistently, (and it matters not.)

CASUAL TOOLS

.. For some folks catching the fish is the most important part of fishing. For some folks hitting the bull is the most important part of target shooting.
.. For us, just shooting or fishing is the most important part.  AND, WE DO CATCH FISH AND HIT THE BULL - so?
.. Getting lost has nothing to do with being lost. It has to do with immersion in the moment, in the activity, in the experience. We can get lost while tying a gross of flies. We can get lost while loading our 22 PPC cartridges. We can get lost in our living room - it's so rewarding.
.. For whatever reason we seem to get lost most often in the Autumn. We like it that way.

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WET OR DRY

.. Right now there are white miller caddis, baetids of a couple sorts, small fry, other fry, and nymphs galore on the west side rivers in Yellowstone National Park.
.. The expert counter help is warning folks off of the Gallatin River as "TOO COLD."
.. Avoid this river if you choose. There are many active fish taking small streamers that imitate fry. Some patterns of the caddis sort may be fished above and in the film as well as below and soaked to the bone.

DRY OR WET

.. Catching is on the mind of so many of the pro fishers that they seldom enjoy fishing.
.. Right now the fishing is excellent in these pleasant Fall days.
.. We're in the 60's and the sun is playing with the wispy clouds. There are scattered flurries of mixed precipitation and the wind is just a gentle breeze.
.. Catching is pretty good too!

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WALLPAPER:  BREAKFAST EXTRAVAGANCE