Equinox

It all felt big and empty today.  A lonely wind tried to blow late in the afternoon but it got all hung up in the trees.  It seemed like it was trying to find itself and couldn’t quite get going.  Along the way it would pick up a few leaves from the trees and scatter them along as if was looking for something to grab onto.  It had come all this way looking for something – but whatever was here was gone now.  The whole place seemed like it was mourning something irretrievably lost.  I think it was the sad love songs I listened to on the drive over.  I shoulda picked something a bit more uplifting.

The fish were few and far between, consisting of half-pounders taken on a sinking tip.  I banged up my elbow a good bit climbing down a poison-oak ridden hillside downstream of Ice Cream.  One of those impacts where you hit hard and don’t feel anything right away.  Then the pain comes over like a wave.  It’ll probably hurt more tomorrow than it does now.  Felt soles and steep, loose slopes do not mix well, unless you’re into skiing, which happened unexpectedly.  Ironically, it was nearby and across the river where I banged up my shin last week.  That one’s nearly healed now.

Once on the water, I promptly hooked a fish in the shade of the cliff and then spent a long time just trying to figure out the wind.  After climbing out and getting out of my waders, which sprung a significant leak at some point in the day, I scoped out another reach to climb down into.  The road gives a peek at some potentially good water, but most of it is not visible from up high.  Looks like there is a weak trail that barrels down at least part ways through a jumble of oak, bedrock and fir trees.  Just in time for my healed elbow…On the way home, the late afternoon sun bathed everything in a soft light, bringing everything to a standstill.  I don’t think there’s much more summer left here.

And it’s probably time to ferret out some new music.