The Junkie needs his fix

I'm really going to miss it here when I leave. The quiet, the mountains, the rivers, the people, it's a good place to be and Manhattan, KS will have to be pretty damn impressive to keep up. I was reading an article online about the flooding in Cedar Rapids, where most of my family now lives, and it reminded me of things I missed about the Midwest. People pulling together as a community to help each other, knowing that if they needed help, others would be there for them. I remember filling sandbags in Andalusia in '93, walking the dikes, handing out food, the amazing turnout of people from all over to help. Their houses were safe up on top of the hill, but their friends and neighbors were threatened so there they were. We were definitely blessed to grow up in a place that had that sense of community and togetherness and I want to make sure that wherever I end up, my kids, when I have them, will have that same sense of belonging and community.



The rivers here are starting to slowly go down, but it'll probably be a couple of weeks unitl they are really fishable, and I'm really freaking out. I'm like some kind of addict, jonesing for my next fix. It doesn't help that I just read an article about fly fishing alpine lakes. The author had an interesting take on fishing and I'll close with a quote from the article.



"Fishing is one of the outdoor activities that can actually foster epiphanies-those rare moments of lucidity where one catches a glimpse of totality, its meaning, and one's place within it. 'Yes. I see it. I feel it,' you announce to everyone, and to no one. It's as if you're wired into the universe, feeling its pulse, flowing through its veins in an uninterrupted stream of energy. And then, like a passing memory or a mild bout of melancholy, it slips away, leaving only a vague and indescribable feeling, and a hope for its return. So you keep fishing, and you wait.

"