As I sit down to write, I realize this post will pop up on Easter morning. I hope spring sunshine is peeking through the curtains, the coffee is deliciously hot and dark, and everyone is with friends and family. Take a second to reflect on spring—maybe there is green grass peeking up (unless you are in the Northeast; in that case it’s probably snowing and I’m sorry), maybe there’s a tulip poking up in the yard, or even a persistent daffodil or two. If you are really lucky, you’re reading this post in the evening after a spring day on the water. Or you are wearing flip-flops. Either one. Maybe both.
A couple of past Easters in particular stick out; when I lived in Missoula one was spent helping a friend Tetris a season’s worth of hay onto a giant flatbed trailer. Dusty and sweaty, we stopped by the house long enough to down a quick Easter lunch, then spirited down to the corrals and spent the afternoon working in young horses. It ended in a rather memorable horse race up a dirt road, an odd mix of crow hopping, bolting and galloping colts.
No one ended up in the hospital, so it was a win.
Another was spent shoveling horse manure then hunting for Easter eggs around the barn (there were a few like that, actually). And then there were the inexplicable Jello Easter eggs of my youth, which nestled so nicely in the giant slingshot we kept in the drift boat. They rocketed around the river, and more than once were flung down neighborhood streets.
Might need to repeat that particular ritual.
At any rate, this Easter I’m prepping to spend the latter half of the month on the road. (And, hopefully once the gear is set up and emails are answered, may sneak away to wet a line myself today.) The coming few weeks are going to be crazy, but I hope to meet some of you as I travel! Here’s the lowdown:
10-12 April: Delaware River, West Branch Angler. I’ll be teaching Fly Fishing 101 classes at West Branch Angler’s Hell or High Water event… come hang out, catch a fishy film festival, and log some casting practice.
15-21 April: Back in Bozeman! Juggling photo shoots and business meetings, but plotting run away from it all and fish a few times.
22-27 April: Over to Missoula for the Orvis Guide Rendezvous. Three days of seminars, cocktail parties, networking, sneak peeks at new gear… don’t miss it. Saturday’s event in Caras Park is open to the public (free beer!), and the Down the Hatch Film Festival that night is not to be missed. Trust me on this.
27 April – 1 May: Back to southwest Montana to do a shoot for Orvis. Old vehicles, fishing, horses, and logging some hours on the road. Good stuff.
Once more, the packing ratio of clothing to camera / fishing gear is somewhere in the 70/30 range. Eh, clothes can be washed in the hotel sink. I’d rather have that second streamer box along for the ride.
Have a good Easter, gang. Hope to see some of you soon!
