Is it fall yet???

Coming up on Labor Day 2011.  We've had a hot few days, but overall it's been a very moderate summer in these parts.  School's been in session almost a month now.  *Whew.*  As I get older, it's getting more intense.  How do you guys who teach really big programs even manage?  First couple of days, I thought I was going to blow up! 

I'm letting Labor Day pass, then I AM going to get out on the Kings and do some angling...I can't wait for that cool weather and the hatches that'll come with it!  

Can the Middle Class Be Saved? - The Atlantic

Can the Middle Class Be Saved? - The Atlantic

This is a great article that is non-aligned. Maybe if we had more articles like this one we wouldn't be so polarized in this country. I want to believe that some of the things he suggests could work. Are they likely to happen??#fb

Rivers in Summer 2011

again.  2011 now.  I'll just do this for myself and if I get a reader...cool!  (I suppose that's what its all about anyway) :-)

I've just completed a summer angling trip to McCloud, Pit, Feather, Truckee, and Walker rivers in California.  The water was very high so (except for McCloud) the angling (and the angler!) were somewhat marginal.  But the solitude was outstanding!  I'll put some pictures below.  The amount of water is a good sign; healthy for the fish and the watershed...just tough to wade and really tough to get a good drift.

I've been getting some notices from Trout Unlimited about a legislative attack on the Clean Water Act in the House of Representatives.  Here's a read:  http://www.tu.org/press_releases/2011/house-approves-bill-to-undercut-the-clean-water-act.   I don't TRY to anger my more conservative friends, but man...what are we thinking?  This is a BASIC law to protect what's left of our environment and it really should not be altered.  I doubt we want to go back to the days of burning rivers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuyahoga_River#Environmental_concerns.

What this legislation intends is to pass federal responsibility for this issue to states.  The crux, to me, of what is happening in our governance these days is the feeling in people like the drafters of this legislation that government regulation has no place in the lives of Americans; that we must be "free" to do what we choose at the moment.  Environmental protections, by their very nature, require all of us to do a good act for all of us...and to keep our eye on the future.  Some will lose, but most will gain...and those who lose in protections like this are businesses who (by necessity) WANT or NEED to use the natural world to create jobs and profit.  The nice thing about TU is that they are willing to work with this segment of us...when appropriate.  But I put forward that this isn't one of these times.  Regulation works for the common good in certain cases, and this occasion calls for us to act like a republic instead of a confederation of individuals.  Compare the conservative position on this to that regarding the deficit (in which "our children's children" are to be protected from the HUGE federal debt).  Shouldn't these two issues be consistent?

So, I would urge the reader to spend a bit of time reading up on this issue, and if you feel it's appropriate, contact your senator and work to protect the Clean Water Act.

Anyway, I took a video and a couple of photos...so here they are:

Just a real pretty side stream where it intersects the PCT

A McCloud Rainbow caught on a dry...quick before he gets to swim away!)

2010

Here we are: another year! Amazing. I'm in San Diego with my father and my niece Lisa...enjoying her company. She is an amazing young woman and I love her so much. She's taken an assistant professorship at NSW University in Sydney, Australia. SO BRAVE, so willing to embrace change. Dad is really happy that we are both here, and next weekend my brother John and sis in law Lexi will be here (fleeing Olympic madness in Vancouver).

I hope 2010 is a year of courage, change, and life re-energized. It's been easy for me to just go into "cruise" mode and forget that I still have things I want and need to do; changes to make that require fortitude and persistence. Reader, don't you find that it gets really easy to fill our lives to the brim with "business" (busy-ness!) and forget to work on things that may matter more: love, intellect, art? That's what I find anyway.

My "resolution" (hate em, but there you go) is to find the cojones to work on these things in personal and professional spheres. If this resonates with you, I hope that for you too.

Bandon Vacation

Hello friends! I write from Bandon Oregon, where I am spending the EUHS intersession week relaxing and recharging. It's a beautiful place where we usually get a head start on cool, wet weather. From the sound of it though, Central Cal is every bit as rainy as it is here. Well, go for it. The water will be welcome.

This is not the best pic, but I'm still working on my digital camera skills.

As for my previous post, thanks to you all for the good wishes. The last week of school, before I left, felt for the first time that I was crawling out of my downer and into some semblance of resilience. I hope that continues. I've sure tried to keep my head in the game, but as I said, it can be really hard. Not that my students aren't cool. Look:


Jana's birthday. Just one cool moment in a series of many. Wouldn't mean a lot to anyone but the 67 of us, but it seems to me that the kids are really well bonded. It's not perfect, and the kids have some drama, but they are sure the reason for going in to Exeter every day!







I plan to try to angle for some Salmon up here while I'm here, but the wind has to stop blowing at 40 mph first. We'll see. I'll post again soon.

In San Diego again

To see to my Dad. He just turned 89 years young-amazing guy. He is definitely showing signs of his age, and it's a bit hard to see. But he still is aware and active, just very very slow.

I've been trying to stay on the happy side of things but am finding that more of a challenge than it has been in many a year. The causes could be many, but the cures seem few. I am trying to keep from becoming cynical and mean-spirited, but man it can be hard. It's so easy to see the craven side, the empty grasping side of most people. In the past its been easy to balance these views by taking refuge in my work and my outdoor hobbies, but lately I am not finding the kind of joy in these that I have in the past.

I sense change in the wind. I hope it's change for the better.

thanks

to all of you for your good wishes for Dad. It's been a tough week but he's had some good moments too, like when he got to watch Ryan, his uber-cool GREAT GRANDSON as he explained trucks to us all. Or having all of us kids with him at least one more time.

I'm grateful to my friends for all your prayers and love.

I ALSO, when I could, attended a very fun family reunion. Here are the players:








Now I leave for the Eastern Sierra...Dad's set for now and its time to harass some unsuspecting trout!


More to come...