Radio Silence

Sorry 'bout that, folks.

It's been a long week, and we didn't particularly feel like sharing. Not that anything bad happened, but we just didn't feel writerly, and we think we have finally reached a point that we can talk about it.

A few high points in the "missing week"-

We turned one year older. Yup, the B-day was on the same day it has been since the late 60's, and damn if we didn't get some good loot this year. If y'all feel the need to give us stuff in honor of our day of birth, give the guys at Juneau Flyfishing Goods a call - they sell gift certificates, and they take credit cards.

We got ahold of one of the bigger char we have ever caught. And turned it free to swim another day, even though bonking and mounting one of those beasty critters has been on the list for awhile.

Coho fishing went from pretty damn good to downright silly, and is showing all signs of continuing for the next few weeks at a furious pace.

So.

Back to the whole "writerly" thing.

Not long ago, we were getting itchy about rekindling a creative fire that had burned out about 15 years ago. Maybe it was the onset of middle age, maybe it was just ennui...whatever the cause, we decided that it would be a good thing to start writing again, maybe wake up a few synapses that had gone to sleep in the post-college years. Problem: what to write about. Bad writing is intolerable, but bad writing on crappy subjects should be a punishable crime, or at least bring about civil litigation. Solution? Attepting to capture our long-standing hobby obsession with fish and fishing, just not in that dorky, Outdoor Life-ish "There I was" sorta style. We would like to think that we succeeded at this, at least for a little while, and that this blog is evidence of that. The ability to write came back, and the pleasure of writing was once again visited upon our home.

Then we got paid for it.

When you lose your amateur status in a particular discipline, there is a tendency to feel two things. One of these is the elation of knowing that you provide a service that is apparently good enough to provide financial remuneration for, proof that you have risen above the masses of humanity to shine just slightly brighter than your counterparts back in the amateur trenches. The other is that nagging feeling in the back of your skull, the little voice that says, "Dumbass. Now you HAVE to do this."

Lately, we have been feeling a lot more of the latter than the former.

It took a little time to fully grasp, but we're pretty sure that was the thing. Something that we HAD to do, and it became tedious and repetitive.

So we took a week off.

But we're happy to report that things are looking up. We did a little mid-life crisis therapy with malted beverages last week, which was very helpful, and we caught a whole pile of fish in the last 3 days of the week and didn't stop once for a picture. No photos, no stoppage time, just us and the fish. We can't think of any better form of healing than cold beer and willing fish, but if you do, let us know about it.

This weekend, however, we actually took a few pics. Most of them were of scenery, which we should interpret as proof positive that there is light at the end of the tunnel. We will try to be better at this, and not go so long without calling or writing, but we make no promises.

We are at the mercy of the fish.