It’s a riff on an old term from marching days, the command was, “Pass in review,” and it was suitably modified in the barracks to something a little different.
But it’s time for the look backwards so I can look ahead. There are two parts, and it’s a twofold process, and like a lot of my life these days, it centers around a fishing trip. Last boat trip of the year, cold and yet not bad at all. Not much in the way of fish, but a good trip, nonetheless.
When my buddy dropped me off, it was a comment he made about how it had been a good year for fishing. Yes, it was. At least twice in the last year, on the same day, I caught the same fish. Same fish twice. Not very bright fish. Full of fight, and they were safely released back into their native environment, and the fact that I caught two twice, was reason to stop and ponder.
In both cases, I was doing something different when I caught those fish a second time. Not a lot different, but different enough to fool them. Besides, what those fish lacked in brilliance, they more than made up for it with attitude. Plenty of vigor. Fight the good fight and don’t fall for the same trick worm twice.
While we’d been out on the lake, early that winter’s morn, the air temperature vis-à-vis with the lake water’s temperature produced a thick layer of fog. That fog was up to thirty feet high in places, a little less in others. Because I overslept that one morning, I’m claiming Mercury Retrograde as the excuse, we weren’t the first boat on the lake. We puttered, and I mean, in that thick fog, with a Virgo at the helm, we puttered off to a little cove that usually yields fish.
Not much luck, but the camaraderie was agreeable, I was more than forgiven for my tardiness, and seeing as how the fish weren’t hitting anything, no time was lost.
So we’re sitting in a boat on the very foggy lake, tucked back up in tiny cove without a lot of luck, but we’re right around the corner from a boat launch ramp. There’s the roar of big outboard, and the dull thunder of a mighty two-stroke peeling out once it passed the “no wake” buoy. Visibility on the lake’s surface, I’m not talking whether the water was clear or not, but on the surface of the lake? Could see about twenty feet. Now, in my life, I’ve certainly done a few stupid things, along the lines of, “Hey, watch me do this!”
But blasting a hole shot at 50 knots when skipper can’t see the horizon, much less anything in front of him? It’s not a good idea. Judging by the number of trailers on the ramp? Must’ve been a dozen boats in the water. A little less than a thousand acres of water surface. That’s one boat ever hundred acres. I never read anything about a crash, but who knows what close calls there might have been.
So what’s the message? What does this have to do with the end of the year and the beginning of a new cycle? Before opening that throttle Wide Full Open? Maybe try to figure out where the other watercrafts are?
While we were in that cove, we were discussing the wake-up process. My buddy, he’s got a trick. If he’s supposed to pick me up at 5, he gets up at 4. Right before the alarm goes off. He was talking about a fishing trip and the other guys didn’t bother with an alarm because my buddy is better – he just wakes up when he’s supposed to.
Which then led to a discussion about “intent.” What’s his intent? To wake up at the right time. Works like magic. Sets it in his mind and it happens. In December of 2003, I purchased a case of cassettes, the special, cheap, 30-minute tapes I use for quick readings. I set my intent to run through all of those tapes in the year. I’ve still got half a case left over. However, I did do that may readings. At one venue, they supply the tapes. At another place, I use longer tapes. And at this point, I’ve started to master the audio track onto a CD. I don’t have all the kinks worked out, but it’s a start. So I did that many readings, I just didn’t use all the tapes. My goal was that number of readings, not necessarily to run through all the tapes.
It’s about intent. Goals, specific goals, and making those goals happen. Like waking up at 4 in the morning to fish. Or doing a specific number of readings in a year. (Gratuitous business plug: It’s how I pay the bills, and I’m open for business.)
I don’t have specific goals for the coming year. 2004 was good. While I didn’t make a lot of money, I did manage further hone my priorities. What’s really important? Family, friends, companionship. When I looked over the material from last year, pulled my favorites into a book format, there was one essay about how to measure success. Fish caught (and released)? Or just fishing? To paraphrase that sage Virgo, “A good day fishing is a day when I fish. An excellent day is when I catch something.”
Piss in your shoe
It’s a riff on an old term from marching days, the command was, “Pass in review,” and it was suitably modified in the barracks to something a little different.
But it’s time for the look backwards so I can look ahead. There are two parts, and it’s a twofold process, and like a lot of my life these days, it centers around a fishing trip. Last boat trip of the year, cold and yet not bad at all. Not much in the way of fish, but a good trip, nonetheless.
When my buddy dropped me off, it was a comment he made about how it had been a good year for fishing. Yes, it was. At least twice in the last year, on the same day, I caught the same fish. Same fish twice. Not very bright fish. Full of fight, and they were safely released back into their native environment, and the fact that I caught two twice, was reason to stop and ponder.
In both cases, I was doing something different when I caught those fish a second time. Not a lot different, but different enough to fool them. Besides, what those fish lacked in brilliance, they more than made up for it with attitude. Plenty of vigor. Fight the good fight and don’t fall for the same trick worm twice.
While we’d been out on the lake, early that winter’s morn, the air temperature vis-à-vis with the lake water’s temperature produced a thick layer of fog. That fog was up to thirty feet high in places, a little less in others. Because I overslept that one morning, I’m claiming Mercury Retrograde as the excuse, we weren’t the first boat on the lake. We puttered, and I mean, in that thick fog, with a Virgo at the helm, we puttered off to a little cove that usually yields fish.
Not much luck, but the camaraderie was agreeable, I was more than forgiven for my tardiness, and seeing as how the fish weren’t hitting anything, no time was lost.
So we’re sitting in a boat on the very foggy lake, tucked back up in tiny cove without a lot of luck, but we’re right around the corner from a boat launch ramp. There’s the roar of big outboard, and the dull thunder of a mighty two-stroke peeling out once it passed the “no wake” buoy. Visibility on the lake’s surface, I’m not talking whether the water was clear or not, but on the surface of the lake? Could see about twenty feet. Now, in my life, I’ve certainly done a few stupid things, along the lines of, “Hey, watch me do this!”
But blasting a hole shot at 50 knots when skipper can’t see the horizon, much less anything in front of him? It’s not a good idea. Judging by the number of trailers on the ramp? Must’ve been a dozen boats in the water. A little less than a thousand acres of water surface. That’s one boat ever hundred acres. I never read anything about a crash, but who knows what close calls there might have been.
So what’s the message? What does this have to do with the end of the year and the beginning of a new cycle? Before opening that throttle Wide Full Open? Maybe try to figure out where the other watercrafts are?
While we were in that cove, we were discussing the wake-up process. My buddy, he’s got a trick. If he’s supposed to pick me up at 5, he gets up at 4. Right before the alarm goes off. He was talking about a fishing trip and the other guys didn’t bother with an alarm because my buddy is better – he just wakes up when he’s supposed to.
Which then led to a discussion about “intent.” What’s his intent? To wake up at the right time. Works like magic. Sets it in his mind and it happens. In December of 2003, I purchased a case of cassettes, the special, cheap, 30-minute tapes I use for quick readings. I set my intent to run through all of those tapes in the year. I’ve still got half a case left over. However, I did do that may readings. At one venue, they supply the tapes. At another place, I use longer tapes. And at this point, I’ve started to master the audio track onto a CD. I don’t have all the kinks worked out, but it’s a start. So I did that many readings, I just didn’t use all the tapes. My goal was that number of readings, not necessarily to run through all the tapes.
It’s about intent. Goals, specific goals, and making those goals happen. Like waking up at 4 in the morning to fish. Or doing a specific number of readings in a year. (Gratuitous business plug: It’s how I pay the bills, and I’m open for business.)
I don’t have specific goals for the coming year. 2004 was good. While I didn’t make a lot of money, I did manage further hone my priorities. What’s really important? Family, friends, companionship. When I looked over the material from last year, pulled my favorites into a book format, there was one essay about how to measure success. Fish caught (and released)? Or just fishing? To paraphrase that sage Virgo, “A good day fishing is a day when I fish. An excellent day is when I catch something.”
Out with the old
Sick, not sick as a dog, but doped up pretty good on antibiotics and a cocktail of antihistamines, we fished for the morning.
Looked good, but I got skunked at the lake. Buddy caught several, and at least two of them were rather decent. One weighed in at 6 pounds, ten ounces. Wandered on home, gobbled more meds, and woke up and tossed a quick line in the lake. Nice finish, not a big guy, but full of fight, and I hope I’ll see him again in the new year.
“The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.”
— Alfred Lord Tennyson
Copyright 2005 by Kramer Wetzel for astrofish.net. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without prior written consent from the author.