... A Little Closer to Home: December 2016

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Fly of the Day

Thinking of some trout fishing next summer. Two little Elk Hair Caddis. One is a #18 and the smaller is a tiny #22 hook.
I can see a rainbow rising to take one of these at either end of a nice quiet pool on a NE Iowa spring creek. The guys with the worms, while perhaps taking home more fish, will never understand the beauty of it all. It's not really about bigger fish or more fish than the other guy. It's about seeing the details and being in the moment, the experience of God if you will.
My fishing lessons this year were to patiently study the water, sling my line less often, use more stealth.
Happy New year everyone.

Friday, December 23, 2016

The Big Picture

The picture above is Denali (the local name meaning "the big one") or Mt McKinley for us in the lower 48 states. I took this shot June 2007 on our trip to Alaska. We were 35 miles from the mountian and 60 miles in from the lodge in Denali National Park and our bus broke down. We had just encountered bears along side the bus less than a mile a way at the time.

A few days later I found a outfitter service in Talkeetna and flew up up to 12,000 ft around Denali. Worth every penny of the $200.

A good book on Denali is, "To the Top of Denali" by Sherwonit. Here is a quote, "On the mountian, you have to consciously make yourself eat, drink, and even breathe ... What comes naturally down here, you have to force yourself to do up there. If you don't, you'll never reach the summit."

I think these are good words for both mountian climbing and ministry.