the 5 p's

proper planning prevents poor presentation

have you ever heard that before?  i'm not sure how widespread the use of the so-called "5 p's" is, but i remember hearing it here and there growing up.  it was of course relative to giving a presentation to an audience, but in fly fishing there is a concept referred to as "presentation" as well.  this refers to how well you "present" to a different sort of audience....  that being the trout.  the subject of your presentation:  your fly.


the idea of "planning" was something on my mind as i headed to the kinnickinnic this week.  i had to plan weeks in advance to schedule getting off of work early. i had to plan the time off with kellie to make sure we had our children covered in my absence.  i had to plan for the outing itself, for which the first time i used a "checklist", an idea suggested by joe.  and if we consider practice a part of planning, i had been outside a few days in the past weeks practicing my casting skills in the front yard.


on top of all of this, i had invited my good friend bill to come along for the trip since he was on spring break (he is a math teacher).  however, in the end, it was decided that we had not adequately planned for him to join for the first time, and would likely result in a less than favorable experience with the logistics involved in heading out to the stream....   especially for the first time.


so there were many seemingly unrelated themes tying back to the importance of planning.  i didn't intentionally plan on writing about my two parents in my first two posts on this blog, but its interesting to me that the themes that have come to mind for the first two have connected rather clearly in my mind to childhood experiences of my parents.  my last blog had to do with "doing a job well."  this blog is focusing on the importance of planning.


my mother was amazing at this, and probably single handedly made at least a handful or two of our vacations twice as enjoyable as they would have been otherwise because of her attention to detail, and her gift (or pure choice perhaps??) of being able to plan well.  that has rubbed off on me in many ways.  i love to be spontaneous, and probably more than an average person....  but i've found that even in spontaneity, a modicum of strategic planning can make your spontaneous moments much more successful, memorable, and rewarding.


fishing yesterday illustrated this point numerous times, but none more clearly than as the setting sun approached the horizon just prior to nightfall.  as the day was coming to a close, i was fishing up stream from joe.  we had both sort of silently (maybe just subconsciously) decided to fish further apart than we otherwise had for most of the day, to wrap up what had become a near perfect day of fishing.

i am just learning what it means to be a fly fisherman, and in my infancy, i have not spent much time focusing on interpreting my environment (a very important skill for a fly fisherman).  but this evening i noticed a hatch had taken place, and there were ubiquitous bugs flying around me just above the surface of the water.  all day i had been fishing successfully with nymphs (which are a sub-surface pattern).  but along with the apparent hatch taking place, i was seeing the trout hit the surface.


apparently they were hungry and finding interest in what was above the surface of the water as they would poke their heads out, some more than others, to swallow whatever their eyes were targeting.


really for the first time since i began fishing last summer, i made the call to switch flies (without joe's advice :), and go with an elk hair caddis which is a dry fly that floats on the surface of the water if cast well.  i was relatively pleased with my casting (joe had been working with me all day mind you), and my presentation was solid.  presentation with a dry fly is especially important as you want to minimize "slapping" of the water with your line or with the fly itself.  the point is to have your fly come to the surface rather gingerly, mimicking the gentle motion of a real fly.


i casted probably 10 times and was not having any luck, and was starting to doubt my wisdom, when all of a sudden, SPLOOSH!  a respectably sized trout decided he liked what i had offered and took the fly into his mouth.  instinctively i followed suit with a lifting of my rod tip and a tightening of the fly line as i set the hook.  lucky for me, i had played it well, and the trout remained on the end of my line.


i netted the trout, and beamed inside as i had my first success after environment interpretation.  it was an extremely rewarding experience.  and it was at the helm of a spontaneous decision, but one based upon prior practice, preaching (a nice "p" word for "instruction", and more accurate to how joe has learned to speak to me :), and planning.  it was a fish caught that not just anyone would have netted.  that fish was the result of having been a diligent student, and it felt real good.


it was the last catch of the day for me, and it capped off what was a simply glorious afternoon.  one which offered to us mid-50s for temps, sunshine, and a near record trout count for me (6 or 7...   lost count...  7 would break my record), and a near trophy fish for joe ;)  (poor joe....    we both saw it on the end of his line....  i was there....   but we'll never know exactly how big that guy was.......  poor joe  :)


my spirit itches for summer as we've gotten a foretaste of glory divine, but with days like this....   i won't have trouble being too impatient....

kinnickinnic

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.

Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

-- Lao Tzu

it was from my father as a young boy that i learned the value of patience, and the satisfaction that comes from hard work.  he always said, "a job worth doing is a job worth doing well."  at such moments, i was usually then on my way back to the garage to finish turning my "ok" attempt at cleaning it into "a job done well."

such simple words really.  and yet its amazing to me how often we settle for something less than a "job done well" when its within our capacity to do so.

when i sat down to write tonight, it was this particular legacy of my dad's that came to mind as i stared at the photo above, and reminisced about my first trip to wisconsin as an aspiring fly fisherman.

in an internal sense, i am "coming into my own" as i approach my mid-thirties.  and i certainly do not mean to imply that i have answered all my questions, or have reached a point of perpetual equilibrium.  i am simply expressing the reality inside me that i would call "Peace."

for me, this is a relative term.  it is a peace that is comparative to all that has preceded me in my journey....  specifically in mind here, would be my inner journey.

there are perhaps many factors that have played into this experience of self-actualization, some big some small.  but as this has taken place, i find myself placing in front of me all that has become uniquely "me" as an object of reflection itself, and then locating it within the wider story of my life.  in some respects it is hard to believe that the memories i have of "my self" are memories of a single individual.  and on the other hand, its like nothing has changed.

fly fishing to me is a sign of my person "coming home."  it is a sign of belonging to myself.  it is at once both a sign of my having fully embraced "adulthood" and at the same time a connection to all that is "youth" within me.  when i step into the river, it "just is" true that there are few other moments in life that i am more "shane" than when my feet submerge.

in this sense, fly fishing could not possibly be less about fly fishing than it is, but it is precisely for this reason that it is "freed" to be one of the most enjoyable things i have ever taken part in.

paradox.

"free from desire you realize the mystery."  life is filled with such paradoxes.  i expect nothing from the river, from the trout living beneath the surface, from the sky above me, from the air i breathe....  and thus i am free to receive it all.

as gift.

looking back...  i'm not sure what any of this has to do with my dad's having taught me to take time to do something well.  but as i ritually take place in deep introspection, i see the blossoming of something in that memory that has become less about something i "do" and more about something i "am."

fly fishing has been a beautiful lens through which to understand myself and everything i have become...  both good and not-so-good.....

when i reflected back upon my first trip to the kinnickinnic, my first wisconsin trout caught at the helm of my good friend joe's firm but paced instruction, the setting sun on a seasonably warm march evening, and one last rise that i hope will always quicken my heart....  it was my dad's example that came to mind, and the seemingly countless examples which experience has presented to help internalize this priceless bit of wisdom....

...that a job done well....   really is "worth" it......

introduction

vasudeva the ferryman (from herman hesse's "siddharta") spent his days helping people cross a river which to most, was simply an obstacle in their otherwise busy schedules.  he comments that it is extremely rare, but every once in a great while, one of these people will stop to enjoy the river's ever flowing presence.  a smaller number yet.... actually listen.

i didn't need to start another blog, but i found myself wanting to as i spend a good amount of time reflecting on my own moments in life when i stop to listen.  these moments when the world fades around me as i dissipate into the "now" of what is around me are some of the most precious i have experienced.

having a dedicated place to unpack some of the thoughts, sights, sounds, and experiences i have when i head outdoors seemed like a meaningful endeavor.  so to this end, i have begun my third blog.

...life is short.  may time be treasured....