A fly fisherman is a true artist. He casts and performs a beautiful display of loops and curves with his line as he sends it flying over the water, eventually placing the fly at the end of the line in front of the fish lurking just below the surface; the fish doesn’t stand a chance. For the fish it is fatal temptation and it is not too long before our artist and hero is ‘bringing in the big one’ (all 12 inches of it)! What poetry in motion, what a feeling of satisfaction, what a tale for the telling.
After several attempts at this new sport, Denis sensed that this fly fishing business was not going to be a piece of cake. Weighed down by all kinds of equipment that he didn’t need as a beginner, he joined the ‘experts’ on a couple of local lakes. To his horror his casting was appalling, he was using the wrong type of flies and worse still, was creating too much of a splash on the lake, immediately advertising his presence to the fish and irritating other anglers nearby. However, he persevered.
As he became more practiced in his art, our intrepid hero had to suffer the indignities of overturned canoes, soaking clothes, flies in the hair, stalled engines on the boat, tangled lines and countless other stories to explain, ‘The one that got away.’
Wanting to reach the height of perfection, a never ending cash flow was required to purchase the ‘vital’ equipment needed to assure success. This included rods – not just any rod but the best hand-made rod and an array of back-up rods designed according to the species of fish to be caught.
Of course, there was the reel to go on the rod. Clearly, nothing but the best was appropriate for Denis – and several of them.
Hooks and flies – without which it is difficult to catch a fish, were added to the ever swelling inventory. Hooks vary in size, again depending on the type and size of fish being pursued.
Flies – a fly, is a fly, is a fly – not so when it comes to flies for sports fishing. They come in a beautiful array of colours for all kinds of fish and all kind of weather as well as ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ flies. The dry flies float on top of the surface and the wet fly (lure) swims in the surface water or below. In both cases the choice depends on what type of fish the fisherman is chasing, their feeding habits, the environment and the weather.
Clothing was not exempt from the, ‘I definitely need’ list. When he started fishing, Denis was content with the basics, but he progressed in his art, he found that waders were a definite asset together with a wading stick to test the depth of the waters at the bottom of the river (mud has a habit of sinking).
It was not too long before he realized that urgent repairs to broken lines or tippets were better done in the river, rather than returning to the bank. Therefore, a fishing vest had to be purchased; otherwise it would be impossible to fish!
A fishing vest is a waistcoat composed of a multitude of pockets upon pockets to hold all the tools of the trade and a variety of clips on which to hang the implements not suitable for pocket storage. Amongst other things, the vest may sport pliers, penknives, files, flies, fly boxes, a thermometer, a whistle, a flotant, scissors, a fly drying patch etc. In fact a well equipped fly vest, fully loaded, succeeds in presenting our intrepid fisherman as a ‘Pearly King’ or Christmas tree without lights.
As he climbed the expensive ladder of success to fishing competency and in some cases, outstanding flashes of brilliance, Denis had to focus on times and weather. The optimum times for fishing would appear to be between 7.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. and one hour before dusk to half an hour after dusk. There are, of course, other times to be tried – all day long and all night long, if necessary.
As in countless situations, other than fishing, the weather is crucial. A strong cold east wind can cause the fish to go deeper into the water. Bright days with a cloudless sky or white clouds tend to enhance the vision of the fish. The ideal condition may well be the still, dull, warm day in excess of 50ºF.
Finally, what does our hero see in this sport of fly fishing? To the layman or onlooker it is a dull, boring, slow and often futile sport, to say nothing of the cost.
As Denis points out, it is the enjoyment of pitting his wits against those of the fish. What wits does a fish have, I ask? He maintains that there is no time to think about other mundane problems and he is getting plenty of aerobic exercise, climbing, walking and casting. Above all there is the solitude, the river or lake, the countryside and the communion with nature. Then there is always the anticipation of catching ‘The Big One’ or just ‘a fish’ to show for being out all day and half the night!
Copyright © Susan Lancaster.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Michael Jackson (From an Old Biddy's Perspective)
When Michael Jackson burst onto the pop musical scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I could see he and I were not going to get along!
I was then in my late forties, and for me, he was way too far out. His music was something I would never listen to, his eccentricity was beyond belief, and his voice, the odd song here and there I heard by accident, was not particularly the kind of voice I appreciated. I didn’t see any of his videos and so was unaware of any other talents he had. In fact Michael Jackson was a vague, eccentric personality somewhere out there on the horizon in my life and I really had not formed any kind of opinion about him.
That being said, I didn’t approve of the way the press always had him ‘in our faces’ whether we liked it or not. The public was forced to swallow much more of Michael Jackson than perhaps they or he wanted. During his various lawsuits and trials, you were compelled to read at least one paragraph of the proceedings because it was all on the front page, and in most cases – filled the front page. In spite of my indifference towards him, I never believed for one moment that he was guilty of any of the charges brought against him. In my opinion, these legal sensations were the result of a couple of people who had known the star. They saw an opportunity to capitalize on a tenuous situation and blow it out of all proportion. For them, this was all in the name of money, money, money. How pathetic.
I could lapse into a complete tirade about how the press treats all these various celebrities. It is dreadful. The press can do a lot for us, but they can also quite calmly destroy people’s lives without any care in the world. When someone dies, the media goes on a feeding frenzy and pushes forward any material good or bad that cause people to buy the paper and therefore earn more money for the press.
We have seen this exact same media nonsense with Diana, Princess of Wales. The media went mad and have since gone to profound lengths to keep her memory in the news with whatever tidbit they can get hold of. Unfortunately, they are aided and abetted by a voracious component of the public who don’t seem to care what they read as long as it provides them with gossip and something to talk about. It now looks as though we are going down the same road with Michael Jackson. Everybody is suffering; most of all his three children, the rest of his family, his friends and his fans. Do they really want to see their idol smeared with put downs and any grotty innuendo the mass communications can find?
As mentioned before, the media does have its positive side and for me, that was taking whole television news hours to define what Michael Jackson had meant to his fans. At last I was able to see what everyone was raving about, because I watched his dancing, his singing and bits of clips of his private life and interviews.
I was truly amazed. Here was an extremely multi-talented, versatile person. His voice was excellent, his dancing fabulous and his charisma electric. Looking also at some of the interviews he tolerated about his personal life left me truly disgusted with the media. How rude could they get? In addition to all his talents, he was quite a handsome man despite his efforts to change his face.
It has been alleged that he died heavily in debt, and, if that is the case, I don’t think his estate will be debt-ridden for long. In fact, in death he will probably make more money than when he was alive and financially more than compensate for the come back we never saw.
I am sad that he has gone; sad because he was so young, sad because he left three charming children without a father and sad because his further contribution to his art will never be.
I finally have a new respect for Michael Jackson – he was superb in all that he did. I might buy his videos – if I can find them.
Rest in peace, Michael.
I was then in my late forties, and for me, he was way too far out. His music was something I would never listen to, his eccentricity was beyond belief, and his voice, the odd song here and there I heard by accident, was not particularly the kind of voice I appreciated. I didn’t see any of his videos and so was unaware of any other talents he had. In fact Michael Jackson was a vague, eccentric personality somewhere out there on the horizon in my life and I really had not formed any kind of opinion about him.
That being said, I didn’t approve of the way the press always had him ‘in our faces’ whether we liked it or not. The public was forced to swallow much more of Michael Jackson than perhaps they or he wanted. During his various lawsuits and trials, you were compelled to read at least one paragraph of the proceedings because it was all on the front page, and in most cases – filled the front page. In spite of my indifference towards him, I never believed for one moment that he was guilty of any of the charges brought against him. In my opinion, these legal sensations were the result of a couple of people who had known the star. They saw an opportunity to capitalize on a tenuous situation and blow it out of all proportion. For them, this was all in the name of money, money, money. How pathetic.
I could lapse into a complete tirade about how the press treats all these various celebrities. It is dreadful. The press can do a lot for us, but they can also quite calmly destroy people’s lives without any care in the world. When someone dies, the media goes on a feeding frenzy and pushes forward any material good or bad that cause people to buy the paper and therefore earn more money for the press.
We have seen this exact same media nonsense with Diana, Princess of Wales. The media went mad and have since gone to profound lengths to keep her memory in the news with whatever tidbit they can get hold of. Unfortunately, they are aided and abetted by a voracious component of the public who don’t seem to care what they read as long as it provides them with gossip and something to talk about. It now looks as though we are going down the same road with Michael Jackson. Everybody is suffering; most of all his three children, the rest of his family, his friends and his fans. Do they really want to see their idol smeared with put downs and any grotty innuendo the mass communications can find?
As mentioned before, the media does have its positive side and for me, that was taking whole television news hours to define what Michael Jackson had meant to his fans. At last I was able to see what everyone was raving about, because I watched his dancing, his singing and bits of clips of his private life and interviews.
I was truly amazed. Here was an extremely multi-talented, versatile person. His voice was excellent, his dancing fabulous and his charisma electric. Looking also at some of the interviews he tolerated about his personal life left me truly disgusted with the media. How rude could they get? In addition to all his talents, he was quite a handsome man despite his efforts to change his face.
It has been alleged that he died heavily in debt, and, if that is the case, I don’t think his estate will be debt-ridden for long. In fact, in death he will probably make more money than when he was alive and financially more than compensate for the come back we never saw.
I am sad that he has gone; sad because he was so young, sad because he left three charming children without a father and sad because his further contribution to his art will never be.
I finally have a new respect for Michael Jackson – he was superb in all that he did. I might buy his videos – if I can find them.
Rest in peace, Michael.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Ghosts in the Attic - Catch Up.
After writing about our ghosts initially (see previous post), we had peace and quiet for about three weeks.
While reading my book one evening, the banging started again and I just couldn’t believe it. What was going on? Again, Denis and I toured the house and could find nothing that could be the cause of this problem.
After two or three days of this intrusion into our daily lives, we decided that something had to be done, but what? Since we could not identify the noise, it was difficult to know the qualified person needed to fix the problem. Our best bet so far was someone in construction because we were now convinced that something was going on in the basic roof construction and if it wasn’t fixed we had visions of part of the roof collapsing.
The following evening, Denis walked into the lounge with a smug grin on his face and announced that he had found ‘the ghost’.
“What!”
“You’ll never guess. They are the speakers belonging to my computer.”
“But that’s in your office, not the attic,” I reminded him.
“Come and see”, said Denis as he started to walk back to the office.
He twiddled the knob on the speaker as he increased the volume, and sure enough there came the hollow, rather loud static bang that sounds exactly like someone banging on the wall.
Since Denis’s office was at the end of the house, I could see how the sound could reverberate and appear to be coming from other places.
“We can easily put this to the test,” said Denis, “by turning off the speakers and then putting them on again.” Sure enough, it was the speakers, and when they were off we never heard another sound. $155 later our problem was solved.
So much for our ‘ghosts’! The moral of this story is – if you think you have ghosts in the attic, check the speakers attached to the computer first.
I was telling this story to someone yesterday, and she asked me if I seriously believed in ghosts?
Do you?
While reading my book one evening, the banging started again and I just couldn’t believe it. What was going on? Again, Denis and I toured the house and could find nothing that could be the cause of this problem.
After two or three days of this intrusion into our daily lives, we decided that something had to be done, but what? Since we could not identify the noise, it was difficult to know the qualified person needed to fix the problem. Our best bet so far was someone in construction because we were now convinced that something was going on in the basic roof construction and if it wasn’t fixed we had visions of part of the roof collapsing.
The following evening, Denis walked into the lounge with a smug grin on his face and announced that he had found ‘the ghost’.
“What!”
“You’ll never guess. They are the speakers belonging to my computer.”
“But that’s in your office, not the attic,” I reminded him.
“Come and see”, said Denis as he started to walk back to the office.
He twiddled the knob on the speaker as he increased the volume, and sure enough there came the hollow, rather loud static bang that sounds exactly like someone banging on the wall.
Since Denis’s office was at the end of the house, I could see how the sound could reverberate and appear to be coming from other places.
“We can easily put this to the test,” said Denis, “by turning off the speakers and then putting them on again.” Sure enough, it was the speakers, and when they were off we never heard another sound. $155 later our problem was solved.
So much for our ‘ghosts’! The moral of this story is – if you think you have ghosts in the attic, check the speakers attached to the computer first.
I was telling this story to someone yesterday, and she asked me if I seriously believed in ghosts?
Do you?
Saturday, June 27, 2009
A Memorial
I need to write about Pat’s memorial service because it was different. It wasn’t your usual run-of-the-mill solemn, tearful funeral service. It was uplifting, joyous and a true celebration of a life.
The Church was full. Ten minutes to wait before the family arrived.
The service began with ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’, setting the tone for an uplifting occasion. This was a hymn my mother requested to be sung at her funeral, but that never happened because my sisters organized everything overseas and I forgot to mention her request. So I sang ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ for my mother.
As we moved on after the psalm and readings, ‘A Time of Remembrance’ was recalled by Lisa, Pat’s daughter. I knew Pat only as a person I saw once a week in church. We enjoyed a couple of serious conversations, shared grandchildren pictures and I had worked church duties with her. We had fun. She was a very pleasant person to be around – and she always had the most gorgeous outfits.
Lisa spoke so eloquently about her mother’s life. Pat’s achievements in her busy life were amazing, and I really regretted that I had not known her a little better.
We sang ‘She Flies On’ and the Prayer of St. Francis’, both of which highlighted the personality which was Pat.
Our priest shared his homily prefaced by remarks that Pat, herself, had planned this service. With a wry smile he related how Pat had warned him that the service was to be a joyous, positive occasion and experience, which it certainly was.
Throughout the service, thoughts came to me periodically; thoughts about life and death, living, family and marriage etc. Pat and her husband Eric had been married for 45 years. Where, oh where is that ethic now? What, I wonder, could have been achieved in society as a whole from many more people in a solid, firm permanent marriage, rather than with second partners and extended scattered family?
Upon concluding the service, Kevin announced that Pat was going to have the last word with a recording of ‘What a Beautiful World’ sung by Louis Armstrong. As the strains of this lovely melody and the gravelly tones of Louis Armstrong enveloped the church, all was silent and still. It was almost as if there was a huge communal hug going on between Pat, her family and friends.
Indeed, I felt that Pat was really and truly with us through the entire service; a smile of joy and satisfaction spreading across her face as Louis Armstrong came to the end of his famous song.
May the Lord keep you with him for all eternity, Pat. We will meet again at some time, some day.
The Church was full. Ten minutes to wait before the family arrived.
The service began with ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’, setting the tone for an uplifting occasion. This was a hymn my mother requested to be sung at her funeral, but that never happened because my sisters organized everything overseas and I forgot to mention her request. So I sang ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ for my mother.
As we moved on after the psalm and readings, ‘A Time of Remembrance’ was recalled by Lisa, Pat’s daughter. I knew Pat only as a person I saw once a week in church. We enjoyed a couple of serious conversations, shared grandchildren pictures and I had worked church duties with her. We had fun. She was a very pleasant person to be around – and she always had the most gorgeous outfits.
Lisa spoke so eloquently about her mother’s life. Pat’s achievements in her busy life were amazing, and I really regretted that I had not known her a little better.
We sang ‘She Flies On’ and the Prayer of St. Francis’, both of which highlighted the personality which was Pat.
Our priest shared his homily prefaced by remarks that Pat, herself, had planned this service. With a wry smile he related how Pat had warned him that the service was to be a joyous, positive occasion and experience, which it certainly was.
Throughout the service, thoughts came to me periodically; thoughts about life and death, living, family and marriage etc. Pat and her husband Eric had been married for 45 years. Where, oh where is that ethic now? What, I wonder, could have been achieved in society as a whole from many more people in a solid, firm permanent marriage, rather than with second partners and extended scattered family?
Upon concluding the service, Kevin announced that Pat was going to have the last word with a recording of ‘What a Beautiful World’ sung by Louis Armstrong. As the strains of this lovely melody and the gravelly tones of Louis Armstrong enveloped the church, all was silent and still. It was almost as if there was a huge communal hug going on between Pat, her family and friends.
Indeed, I felt that Pat was really and truly with us through the entire service; a smile of joy and satisfaction spreading across her face as Louis Armstrong came to the end of his famous song.
May the Lord keep you with him for all eternity, Pat. We will meet again at some time, some day.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
ZUCCHINI FOR SALE
Before I go out to see if Don is planting the tomatoes correctly, thought I should open my e-mail. So here I am. Susan, I don't know if you saved me from going outside or Don from listening to me telling him that what he is doing with the tomatoes is all wrong! But that's O.K. because he is pretty good at ignoring me.
Back to your Blog; really enjoyed your article on Old Biddy. No one wants to admit they are an old biddy and I can see your Mother's point - everyone is old but her. I felt the same way when I went to my Class Reunion. I was a spring chicken compared to everybody else there.
Now, if I only knew how to get to your website on my own! I will ask the computer guy when he comes in from planting the tomatoes. He has completely landscaped a large area in which to plant five tomatoe plants. Our next door neighbour gave us two (one is one too many) zucchini plants. Just think, all this time I thought he liked us! I have a feeling this is why Don has dug and composted and built a wall around this large area, so the zucchini will have room to grow – never mind the tomatoes. I have a problem with this, because now the neighbour will be encouraged to give us some more plants next year. I would have planted the zucchinis with the hope the bugs would enjoy them and leave the tomatoes alone. Maybe I could make tiny, tiny signs!
Incidentally, glad to hear you like zucchini, we will put you on our list of things to do with the Zucchini. Small zucchinis for salads are good, but if you let them go longer than a week, you get these huge odd shaped things good only for Zucchini loaves, and you can only eat so many zucchini loaves. You know, I think they may be good for children who want to learn how to carve – with very dull knives! Will let you know what corner Don will be standing on when giving the away the Zucchinis.
Definitely NOT a Zucchini fan
Back to your Blog; really enjoyed your article on Old Biddy. No one wants to admit they are an old biddy and I can see your Mother's point - everyone is old but her. I felt the same way when I went to my Class Reunion. I was a spring chicken compared to everybody else there.
Now, if I only knew how to get to your website on my own! I will ask the computer guy when he comes in from planting the tomatoes. He has completely landscaped a large area in which to plant five tomatoe plants. Our next door neighbour gave us two (one is one too many) zucchini plants. Just think, all this time I thought he liked us! I have a feeling this is why Don has dug and composted and built a wall around this large area, so the zucchini will have room to grow – never mind the tomatoes. I have a problem with this, because now the neighbour will be encouraged to give us some more plants next year. I would have planted the zucchinis with the hope the bugs would enjoy them and leave the tomatoes alone. Maybe I could make tiny, tiny signs!
Incidentally, glad to hear you like zucchini, we will put you on our list of things to do with the Zucchini. Small zucchinis for salads are good, but if you let them go longer than a week, you get these huge odd shaped things good only for Zucchini loaves, and you can only eat so many zucchini loaves. You know, I think they may be good for children who want to learn how to carve – with very dull knives! Will let you know what corner Don will be standing on when giving the away the Zucchinis.
Definitely NOT a Zucchini fan
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Feedback: One Old Biddy to Another on "The Scales"
You are too hard on yourself, I have, like you, been on every kind of diet you can think of. If I could turn back time I would have tried harder to keep the weight off, when I lost it all at Weight Watchers. Things I learned when weighing in every week. It never works, but people try it anyway.
Sneak up on the scale; -or hold your breath - this one really doesn't make sense you should be blowing the air out not keeping it. (How much does air weigh??). To continue, stand on one foot; stand tall and hold your breath; take off everything you can and still be decent or say to hell with it.
As long as your blood pressure is ok, your diabetes is in check and you fell pretty good, except for the arthritis......Still it would be nice to lose a bunch of pounds.
Biddy Jean
Sneak up on the scale; -or hold your breath - this one really doesn't make sense you should be blowing the air out not keeping it. (How much does air weigh??). To continue, stand on one foot; stand tall and hold your breath; take off everything you can and still be decent or say to hell with it.
As long as your blood pressure is ok, your diabetes is in check and you fell pretty good, except for the arthritis......Still it would be nice to lose a bunch of pounds.
Biddy Jean
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Day The Scales Crashed
“You lie”, I screamed as I stood on the scales after two weeks of near starvation, only to find the indicator still at the same figure as last time. In blind fury I jumped with all my might on the scales and that, I'm afraid, was the end of my weighing apparatus.
I was desperate and the problem - what to do about it? After all, the medical profession, weight loss companies and diet pundits trumpet their success mainly with young, nubile women who achieve fantastic weight losses in a record period of time. Not once do you hear about a plodding, older, slower biddy who has achieved any kind of success following the same regimen in any period of time, as in my case.
However, make no mistake about it, the weight loss organizations will assert that if you stick to a diet, preferably their particular diet, you will lose weight.
There is no one, I am certain, absolutely no one living who has had more experience dieting over the past 40 years than myself. Furthermore, I know my body inside out and back to front. Success was always mine when I was younger, even when I thought I was overweight at size 14! Now, nothing moves. Not even exercise in a gym for three months four times per week and a diet of approximately 1400 calories can assist.
I sit and chat with doctors who admit ‘they don’t know’. I see a specialist in obesity who is over the moon with the prospect of having yet another guinea pig for drug controlled diet tests. When he finds out that due to a particular medication I am taking I don’t fit the specifications of the test drug manufacturer, I am dropped immediately.
What can be done? It seems to be a well known fact that as you grow older, so it becomes much more difficult to lose weight. To a person like myself who is in possession of a stubborn body, the weight control organizations, while never admitting defeat, tend to give up on you. The medical profession cannot help so they placate you with the admission that they simply don’t have any answers apart from the old maxim that the less calories you consume the more weight you will lose.
This may be generally true, but we all know that different bodies respond to different diets. An 800 calorie diet for me yielded no success because my body thought it was being attacked and went into shut down mode. The only time I lost weight on few calories, was in a hospital bed for 10 days, drinking three meal replacement drinks a day.
As for your nearest and dearest friends and relatives, they utter silly platitudes like, get comfortable with your overweight image and accept it and stop worrying. Not on your life!The above arguments are not acceptable for me - not when you are clinically obese and biologically time is running out. It is not a healthy situation viewed in any light.
I want to continue life as a fit and healthy woman, enjoying a good quality of life, so shedding weight is a must. Growing old with an obesity problem is not an option.
Many other people must have this problem, and I would love to have your thoughts on the subject – please share them with me.
I was desperate and the problem - what to do about it? After all, the medical profession, weight loss companies and diet pundits trumpet their success mainly with young, nubile women who achieve fantastic weight losses in a record period of time. Not once do you hear about a plodding, older, slower biddy who has achieved any kind of success following the same regimen in any period of time, as in my case.
However, make no mistake about it, the weight loss organizations will assert that if you stick to a diet, preferably their particular diet, you will lose weight.
There is no one, I am certain, absolutely no one living who has had more experience dieting over the past 40 years than myself. Furthermore, I know my body inside out and back to front. Success was always mine when I was younger, even when I thought I was overweight at size 14! Now, nothing moves. Not even exercise in a gym for three months four times per week and a diet of approximately 1400 calories can assist.
I sit and chat with doctors who admit ‘they don’t know’. I see a specialist in obesity who is over the moon with the prospect of having yet another guinea pig for drug controlled diet tests. When he finds out that due to a particular medication I am taking I don’t fit the specifications of the test drug manufacturer, I am dropped immediately.
What can be done? It seems to be a well known fact that as you grow older, so it becomes much more difficult to lose weight. To a person like myself who is in possession of a stubborn body, the weight control organizations, while never admitting defeat, tend to give up on you. The medical profession cannot help so they placate you with the admission that they simply don’t have any answers apart from the old maxim that the less calories you consume the more weight you will lose.
This may be generally true, but we all know that different bodies respond to different diets. An 800 calorie diet for me yielded no success because my body thought it was being attacked and went into shut down mode. The only time I lost weight on few calories, was in a hospital bed for 10 days, drinking three meal replacement drinks a day.
As for your nearest and dearest friends and relatives, they utter silly platitudes like, get comfortable with your overweight image and accept it and stop worrying. Not on your life!The above arguments are not acceptable for me - not when you are clinically obese and biologically time is running out. It is not a healthy situation viewed in any light.
I want to continue life as a fit and healthy woman, enjoying a good quality of life, so shedding weight is a must. Growing old with an obesity problem is not an option.
Many other people must have this problem, and I would love to have your thoughts on the subject – please share them with me.
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