Monday, August 01, 2005
A class runs through it
Bill and I went to the Moyie River yesterday afternoon. He had his fly rod; I had my spinning pole. We came home with a styrofoam cup filled with huckleberries and one broken pole. During the afternoon of walking across boulders on that gorgeous river's shoreline I did catch one beautiful 13-inch rainbow.
In my older age, I don't like handling slimy, wiggly fish, but I did figure it was pretty important to show Bill this lunker. Actually carried it down the shore to him for inspection. During the trip, a 3-inch minnow popped out of my rainbow's mouth. Had never experienced that before---birthing on a new level, for sure!
Anyway, I did lose two spinners during the afternoon and half the pole. On one cast, the blue lure landed nearly into the trees on the opposite side of the river and then lodged itself on a rock. No amount of pulling or yanking was gonna convince that treble hook to let loose. So, suddenly the pole snapped. I found out later that ya don't need a pole six feet long to fish anyway, so it wasn't a huge loss.
During all this angling activity along the peaceful Moyie, my mind was floating with visions of the weekend just completed. I thought about how much fun it was to see Charlene, Dennis, and Maureen for the first time in 40 years and so many other classmates after 30. All have aged well, I must say.
I could not get over the exuberance of my hiking friends as we made our way up that hot trail Saturday afternoon---resting our bones occasionally and catching up---not with each other but on hundreds of combined years of living---Lorraine's industrial photography career, Teri's recent retirement party and her overflowing excitement about the life that lies ahead, Terry's hiking activities in the Selkirks, George's travels and his intended Sunday plans of cheering Don Hadley on with the Lake to Forest triathlon at Garfield Bay.
As we moved upward and onward wiping away the sweat, many nostalgic highlights and faces of our junior high and high school career came alive with the conversation--as if they were yesterday. George's photographic memory for events and details of the past certainly helped revive scenes long tucked away.
As we stood on perches overlooking Lake Pend Oreille, I pointed out a boat cruising the waters near the beach and speculated that it may belong to Mike Rosenberger who was hosting classmates down there by the miniature Statue of Liberty. Wrong!
Mike says he and Jeanne had a good time relaxing in spite of the no shows. And, we could see out Hidden Lakes way where we knew dozens of classmates, spouses were making their way along the fairways and greens, hitting those balls and telling those stories.
I smiled a lot yesterday and not just because of a 13-inch beauty hooked from those rushing waters north of Bonners Ferry. Besides that magnificent river scene, I was savoring a different kind of beauty that hatched on Friday and flourished throughout the weekend as we came together and shared our individual stories creating one giant web of collective tales to be long remembered until we come together again.
Thanks for the memories, friends!!!!
Stay tuned: more class news about the reunion and the blog tomorrow!
In my older age, I don't like handling slimy, wiggly fish, but I did figure it was pretty important to show Bill this lunker. Actually carried it down the shore to him for inspection. During the trip, a 3-inch minnow popped out of my rainbow's mouth. Had never experienced that before---birthing on a new level, for sure!
Anyway, I did lose two spinners during the afternoon and half the pole. On one cast, the blue lure landed nearly into the trees on the opposite side of the river and then lodged itself on a rock. No amount of pulling or yanking was gonna convince that treble hook to let loose. So, suddenly the pole snapped. I found out later that ya don't need a pole six feet long to fish anyway, so it wasn't a huge loss.
During all this angling activity along the peaceful Moyie, my mind was floating with visions of the weekend just completed. I thought about how much fun it was to see Charlene, Dennis, and Maureen for the first time in 40 years and so many other classmates after 30. All have aged well, I must say.
I could not get over the exuberance of my hiking friends as we made our way up that hot trail Saturday afternoon---resting our bones occasionally and catching up---not with each other but on hundreds of combined years of living---Lorraine's industrial photography career, Teri's recent retirement party and her overflowing excitement about the life that lies ahead, Terry's hiking activities in the Selkirks, George's travels and his intended Sunday plans of cheering Don Hadley on with the Lake to Forest triathlon at Garfield Bay.
As we moved upward and onward wiping away the sweat, many nostalgic highlights and faces of our junior high and high school career came alive with the conversation--as if they were yesterday. George's photographic memory for events and details of the past certainly helped revive scenes long tucked away.
As we stood on perches overlooking Lake Pend Oreille, I pointed out a boat cruising the waters near the beach and speculated that it may belong to Mike Rosenberger who was hosting classmates down there by the miniature Statue of Liberty. Wrong!
Mike says he and Jeanne had a good time relaxing in spite of the no shows. And, we could see out Hidden Lakes way where we knew dozens of classmates, spouses were making their way along the fairways and greens, hitting those balls and telling those stories.
I smiled a lot yesterday and not just because of a 13-inch beauty hooked from those rushing waters north of Bonners Ferry. Besides that magnificent river scene, I was savoring a different kind of beauty that hatched on Friday and flourished throughout the weekend as we came together and shared our individual stories creating one giant web of collective tales to be long remembered until we come together again.
Thanks for the memories, friends!!!!
Stay tuned: more class news about the reunion and the blog tomorrow!
