Ch ch ch

On Nov 4, 10:16*pm, Giles wrote:
Changes.

Time may change me.....

As of right now (or something very close to it, anyway) I am a full
time resident of the tree farm.

So?

Well, that all remains to be seen. *For the time being it means the
repugnant necessity of needing to pack up a large bunch of ****, load
it all on a truck, *move it nearly two hundred miles, and then take it
all off the truck again and put it into a storage locker. *No, it
ain't lung cancer or a brain tumor.....both of those are treatable to
one degree or another. * * * *

The better news is that it also means no more daily megalopoloid
insanity. *Sixteen years should be long enough to convince any sane
person (or anyone wishing to be sane, for that matter) that that ain't
no kinda place to live. *It took me just a couple of visits before I
moved there. *But such are the vicissitudes of life; we find ourselves
in places we never hoped to be in and then spend a long time wondering
how we got there and what it's going to take to get out. *Sort of like
Gilligan, I suppose. * * *

I got a post office box in Sparta today; number 303. *Last time I had
one of those was in Black, Missouri.....box number 2. *One might
suppose from this that Sparta is bigger than Black. *This is so. *One
might also suppose that not a whole lot of mail has traveled through
either post office in the past couple of centuries. *Well, this would
depend on just how one scores such things.....but I'm betting that I
was not the first person to rent those respective boxes in either
place. *Could be wrong, though.

I also found out that getting mail delivered directly to the tree farm
(which has evidently never been done....despite several centuries of
European, and European derived, contact, settlement and influence) is
simply a matter of putting up a mailbox, filling out a very small
form, talking to the carrier on whose route it is, and waiting for
mail to show up. *Who'da thunk that ANYTHING managed by a United
States government agency could be that simple and direct, ainna?
Nevertheless, I'm going to be a very busy boy for the foreseeable
future.....not much time for undirected play. *And then there's that
whole stupid clock change thingy (again!) Saturday night.

Time has an uncanny ability to work on multiple levels at the
same.....um.....well, the same time. *Here in the upper Great Lakes
region it shows remarkable decorum (and good sense) at least insofar
as the calendrical and climatological varieties are in close accord.
Taking things in the order in which they will appear from this day
forward, December 21 is a very close approximation to when what is
recognizably winter will begin. *For the remaining seven weeks or so
till then, autumn will continue to wind down to the point at which it
is simply frozen out. *The signs are already in the air, on the
ground, and, yes, most definitely in the trees. *Terminal buds, so
long hidden by leaves and a nearly desperate longing for status quo,
are now unmistakably fully formed and prominently naked on the ends of
bare twigs. *There is nothing much left alive on the ground.....only a
few bits of grass in protected and sunny glades. *No snow has fallen
yet, but it could happen literally any minute now, and the frequent
frosts presage the inevitable. *Soon the ground will be covered with a
white coverlet, only to be rudely exposed again by the bright sun.
But before too long the sun, hanging low in the sky, will be more a
symbol of hope than of power.

And thus matters will stand for roughly 90 days. *And then the miracle
foretold and retold for millennia.....behold!.....will play out once
again. *Persephone and all that ****.....or Jesus.....or any of
thousands of other resurrectionist myths.....all come true once
again. *And then.....well, you know the rest of the story.....or
should, anyway. *Just look at the calendar *and ask your children (or
grandchildren, as the case may be) to explain solstices and equinoxes
to you.

By the time the next equinox comes around, I'll probably have burned a
couple of cords of firewood.....mixed oak, walnut, apple, cherry,
birch, and a bit of hickory. *I'll also have cut a couple of cords for
next year, and a good deal of already dead and dried wood for the
remainder of this winter. *Benjamin Franklin famously said that he who
cuts his own firewood is twice warmed.....which proves conclusively
that old Ben never prepared his own wood. *If he had, he'd have known
that he who does so is at least three or four times warmed. *I'll be
warm throughout the winter.....and the rest of the year as well.
Seems like a lot of work.....and a very large carbon footprint,
right? *But each tree that comes down serves, at the very least, two
purposes; fuel and/or firewood and/or lumber and/or veneer, and chips
for mulch. *As for the carbon footprint, all eighty acres of this farm
were once devoted to pasture and/or crops for the maintenance of dairy
herds. *A tree farm, managed for sustainable yield in perpetuity (more
or less) represents a permanent carbon sequestration in the many
thousands of tons.....regardless of how much is shipped out as lumber
or burned as fuel. *And, anyway, a house on *this property or any
other in these climes has to be heated in one way or another.....and
direct solar heating is pretty much a joke in this part of the world.
Gas, oil, coal, wood, electric.....it all amounts to pretty much the
same thing.

Meanwhile, all other considerations aside, heating with wood in a
sustainable fashion dictates that there will always have to be a
certain amount of firewood in stock. *No net difference in carbon
input and output. *Neat, sweet, petite!

Heading toward the next equinox, the equation will lean slightly and
briefly toward the consumptive end, but the difference (in a not yet
mature "forest") will quickly be made up and exceeded by new growth as
the trees get ever larger in height, diameter, and crown and root
spread. *Well, as long as the trees continue to grow and prosper, that
is. *The fly in the ointment.

Things are changing. *There are vastly more trees here in the coulee
country today than there were 80 or so years ago. *But then, there
were vastly more trees here a century and a half ago than there are
today. *In the interim, somebody cut them all down.....ALL of
them.....and planted corn and ****. *Devastation on a cosmic scale.
Some of the damage has been mitigated.....but there's a long way to
go. *But we may never get there. *In fact, we almost certainly won't.

Last night, I started reading Charles E. Little's "the Dying of the
Trees." *Not exactly a cheerful title. *Even less so when one
considers that it is an accurate capsule description of what is
happening not only here in the upper Great Lakes, but all across North
America. *Not only all across North America, but all over the world.
Little's first chapter is devoted to the all but complete demise of
the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) throughout its native range,
which includes most of the U.S. east of the Mississippi, as a result
of an infestation by a fungus commonly known as anthracnose.....never
mind the details, you can find them if you want to. *Chapter two, he
promises, is about the red spruce of Vermont. *Then we move on to
California's "X-disease", etc., etc. *I believe I've already mentioned
that we are challenged by both chestnut blight and butternut blight
here at the tree farm. *Dutch Elm disease is famous worldwide. *Gypsy
moths. *Acid rain. *Thousand canker disease. Emerald ash borer. *White
pine blister rust.....the list goes on and on and on and on.....and
grows ever larger. *Trees, and the forests they comprise, are in
serious trouble pretty much everywhere in the world where trees exist
at all. *And it's getting worse.....everywhere. *And that's critically
important for reasons which, if they are not perfectly obvious, you
should be very much ashamed of yourself.

It's a hell of a time to be moving to a tree farm! * * *

.....but I can't trace time

Wolfgang
so, what has all of this got to do with fly fishing? *well, you know
how people are always saying there's no such thing as a stupid
question?

Hi Wolfgang!

Looked in on ROFF for te first time in about a year--I guess, time
flyz, as you well know and my memory is fading fast. Great to read
that you have moved to more settling environs and I hope all works out
for a former RAT *******! Cannot recall if I have had contact with ya
since I finished my degree--desparately and earnestly searching for
employment in Local Government. Of course my options are limited, as I
need to remain close to mother--she is doing fine, for the most part,
but I still take care of the yardly duties and check in on her daily
to ensure that my promised inheritance is not poached upon--you
remember the Grand Estate I'm sure :~^ )

Sadly my fishin' buddy Bear has developed hip issues, so I have had to
retire him from extreme trout fishing excursions--we will now be
compelled to fish the flat waters of Wilson Creek's delayed harvest
section--when together. I hope that I can continue to fish the more
rugged waters for sometime to come. I also want to procure another
fishin' hound but I'm afraid it would kill Bear and I also must
relocate to a new place where I can have a pet (read: Another Best
Friend and new fishin' buddy).

Anyway, I hope to hear from ya and I will write a more lengthy missive
later--presently I must go out and crimp the brake line to the rear
brakes on my truck so that I can bleed the front brakes and get the
damn thing up the mountain to a mechanic who will repair the entire
braking system for me--my mechanicing dayz are long over, I loath to
lay on my back in the gravel, mostly because I have such difficulty
righting myself.

You take good care of the trees!

Mark -- Opie -- Bowen

On 11/7/2010 11:51 AM, Mark Bowen wrote mostly because I have such
difficulty
righting myself.

You take good care of the trees!

Mark -- Opie -- Bowen

about time you surfaced...congrats on the degree.

sounds like the uc trout have had sufficient time to recover. the drum
were slack this year along the spots we tested them... we need a
mountain plan for next year. april perhaps? i'd like to do greentown
once more...but camp at upper wilson. keep in touch.

jeff

On Nov 8, 7:35*am, jeff wrote:
On 11/7/2010 11:51 AM, Mark Bowen wrote mostly because I have such
difficulty

righting myself.

You take good care of the trees!

Mark -- Opie -- Bowen

about time you surfaced...congrats on the degree.

sounds like the uc trout have had sufficient time to recover. *the drum
were slack this year along the spots we tested them... we need a
mountain plan for next year. *april perhaps? i'd like to do greentown
once more...but camp at upper wilson. *keep in touch.

jeff

I called your home and mobile, but you never respond? I was hoping
nothing bad had happened to your or Rachel or the hound. Give me a
holler at bowenmh at g mail dot com--you do still have my phone #,
right? I do not have your email addy anymore--lost during one of my
'puters many crashes--the old Dell Inspiron 8500 ain't what she once
was. Send me an email and I will send you my ph. #.

Op

On 11/9/2010 9:17 PM, Mark Bowen wrote:


I called your home and mobile, but you never respond? I was hoping
nothing bad had happened to your or Rachel or the hound. Give me a
holler at bowenmh at g mail dot com--you do still have my phone #,
right? I do not have your email addy anymore--lost during one of my
'puters many crashes--the old Dell Inspiron 8500 ain't what she once
was. Send me an email and I will send you my ph. #.

Op

having now officially attained the age of a geezer, i have an absolute,
irrebuttable defense to any conduct, charges, or complaints involving my
memory or autonomic or other responses.

e-mail sent.

jeff

Sorry to hear your dog has been limited to less stenious fishing
trips------it happens to all of us--Fishing DH Wilsons Creek is still
better that homestay---I enjoyed two trips up that way this year and
found the water beside the old mill ruins a nice spot !
Get hooked up somewhere in government job as good pension plans are
going out the window--incoming IRA's for all new employees if my
letters to the local newspaper has any influnce !

Joe the Elder ( use to be indian joe when I last saw you )

On Nov 7, 10:51*am, Mark Bowen wrote:

On Nov 7, 10:51 am, Mark Bowen wrote:


Hi Wolfgang!

Hey, Mark, good to see you are still among the living.

Looked in on ROFF for te first time in about a year--I guess, time
flyz, as you well know and my memory is fading fast. Great to read
that you have moved to more settling environs and I hope all works out
for a former RAT *******!


Well, all that can be said for sure so far is that this move has
removed one of my favorite people from the megalopolis. This alone is
reason to rejoice. As for what the future will bring......

Cannot recall if I have had contact with ya
since I finished my degree--desparately and earnestly searching for
employment in Local Government. Of course my options are limited, as I
need to remain close to mother--she is doing fine, for the most part,
but I still take care of the yardly duties and check in on her daily
to ensure that my promised inheritance is not poached upon--you
remember the Grand Estate I'm sure :~^ )

I well remember the ride and the guide. I'd like to repeat the
experience.

Sadly my fishin' buddy Bear has developed hip issues, so I have had
to
retire him from extreme trout fishing excursions--we will now be
compelled to fish the flat waters of Wilson Creek's delayed harvest
section--when together. I hope that I can continue to fish the more
rugged waters for sometime to come. I also want to procure another
fishin' hound but I'm afraid it would kill Bear and I also must
relocate to a new place where I can have a pet (read: Another Best
Friend and new fishin' buddy).

Get thee behind me satan! A new place? With fish? And pets? We
should talk. You got my email address, right?

Anyway, I hope to hear from ya and I will write a more lengthy missive
later--presently I must go out and crimp the brake line to the rear
brakes on my truck so that I can bleed the front brakes and get the
damn thing up the mountain to a mechanic who will repair the entire
braking system for me

Something or other about that whole mess sounds vaguely dangerous no
matter what kind of spin is put on it.

--my mechanicing dayz are long over, I loath to
lay on my back in the gravel, mostly because I have such difficulty
righting myself.

Wishing rightness, the problem is.

You take good care of the trees!

Those I do not kill will be treated with the utmost kindness and
regard.....you may depend on it.

Meanwhile, you take care of yourself, your mother, and your dog.....a
full enough plate for anyone.

And then get your ass up here and fish some "civilized" water.

Wolfgang
who, as luck would have it, is currently in possession of a dozen or
so succulent young brookies just itching to get at some hickory smoke.