to go on my hike day with me and when they showed up, they brought their fly fishing rods along with one for me. I should have known better—their job at the Y is to take out groups for fishing trips and classes. They don’t even actually work for the Y, they work for a company called Sasquatch Fly Fishing which is just based out of the YMCA.We met up at 7:15am and headed over Trail Ridge Road. We finally got to the trailhead at 9:00am and I radioed ROMO to let them know 206Oechsner was “entering the backcountry travel plan.” Unfortunately, I found out that while I was over two hours away from the BCO, I could hear everything on the radio but they couldn’t hear a single thing I was saying. I had a little cell service so I called Dispatch to let them know I wouldn’t be in signal range for the day but that I was starting my hike anyway.
We made it the seven miles to Lake Verna
: our destination of the day. Connor (23) and Scott (21) immediately put down their bags and unpacked the fishing rods, including the one for me. Scott started out while Connor finished setting me up and caught at least three fish before I was even done learning how to cast from Connor. When I was finally done, I caught a fish on one of my very first casts! 
Then came the nervous part for me—getting it off!I squealed out of excitement and nervousness that I caught one but that there was no way one of them was going to make me touch it. Connor came over and landed the fish for me but they said I would have to do the next one. After it was put back in the water, Scott caught another and ran over to make me touch it. I screamed but Connor was holding me down and they wiped it on my arm. It was incredibly slimy. I told them that that wasn’t fair since I didn’t catch that fish but I would at least touch the next one I did catch. I caught two more and pet them both.
I’m not really sure how much good it does to pet a fish, and I wondered if it could even feel the pet or if it was just too nervous from being out of water with a sharp hook stuck in its mouth. That’s always been my issue with fishing in general—what is the point in catching a fish just to throw it back in if it causes the animal so much pain? I don’t think it’s fair to them since they don’t know what is happening. The fish are just looking for a snack, and end up being tricked out of the water.
Most fishers don’t even think about what harm their hobby does to the fish. You can drive down the road anywhere in the country and see bumper stickers that read, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can get rid of him for the weekend,” or “Men and Fish are alike—they both get into trouble when they open their mouths.” Other times, the bumper sticker is just a simple phrase: “I’d rather be fishing.”
You always see those “I’d rather be…” bumper stickers. Some people use their bumpers to express how they’d rather be at the beach, the golf course, or in some warmer, sunnier climate. No matter where we are if we have that sticker or not, we all daydream of being somewhere else. Why not? It’s fun to dream and put bumper stickers on our car. I am even putting more stickers on Roxanne, like an NPS logo and the usual ROMO letter in the black oval, which if you know me and the way I take care of my care is a BIG deal.
The thing that I realize with all of the “I’d rather be…” bumper stickers is that they are all futuristic thoughts rather than people just thinking about what they have in the present. In thinking about that, I realized that my stickers are in the present. I am working for the National Park Service and living in Rocky Mountain National Park. Rather than thinking about being somewhere else, I am focusing on where I am (physically and mentally) and trying not to miss anything important or amazing that is happening in front of my eyes.
Sometimes this happens to me on a plane, when I am “stuck” in the air for hours and I just think of the hours that are wasted by sitting in the air for hours upon hours. I am just trying to get somewhere else and often too busy to be in the present and look out at the beautiful set of clouds or the sunset through the window. On the trip back from China, I journaled for about five hours straight, but then spent my sleepless night (it is almost impossible for me to sleep on a plane) listening to the people around me. I could hear a young girl talking about how excited she was to see her nana again. I could see the darkness of the ocean outside when one man opened his window and felt the peace of the sleeping Earth below me. Being present just makes me feel like I can appreciate the small miracles of everyday, especially here this summer.
I think there is another element to the present: being there for those you care about. In our multi-tasking, cell-phone, internet world it is sometimes hard to be present for our family and friends even if they are sitting right next to us. I hate seeing the people out to dinner who spend half the time on their cell phones, sending texts or checking the score of a game.
I am definitely not immune to this and have caught myself upon occasion doing this as well. Sometimes I will be at home with Kendall watching The Office (we are on season four!) and we won’t have even talked about our day yet. After too much of this, I realize we have missed our opportunity to connect.
Bill Murray learned how to be present in the movie Groundhog Day, when he was forced to relive the same day over and over again. In the movie, he lives in a prison of presentness. At first, he enjoys not having a tomorrow, eating whatever he wants without worrying about weight-gain, and getting into trouble without consequences. Then he becomes desperate. He finally learns the lesson of being present and uses the days to help others. He connects with a woman and they fall in love (typical Hollywood-style) and he appreciates all the small things he can do and see in the world. Finally, he wakes up to a new day and begins his life anew.
We do not have to be stuck in the same day to learn the lesson of being present. We need only to stop spending so much time dreaming of being somewhere else or not paying attention to each other. Then, we can discover the small miracles around us and find ways to connect to those we love.
Maybe instead of getting one of those “I’d rather be…” bumper stickers (although they might be true) people should start investing in something that reads: “I’d rather be right where I am.”
No comments:
Post a Comment