It is fair to say that we do have rising waters... but only for a couple of weeks and then we're back to normal. The water running through our property, which is normally a nice crisp (ice cold) clear running stream, has become an island mud colour! This too will resume it's normal state and become a clear look in about a week. It is not a time of the year that I'd suggest for hiking, unless you know the area you're going into, and you own hip waders!
On the plus side, fishing season has started and even I have the urge to head out to the river banks for a day's fishing. Then, when I look at the guys sitting on the bank next to the melting snowbanks... I rethink my devotion to the fishing experience!
Don't get me wrong, I've done the 4 am trek through the muddy fields with my buddies so we could be down at the best spots along the river, on the first day of fishing season.
The memories come back to me now. The last time was a frosty morning after a heavy downpour the day before. It made for a mud consistency that would halt a bigfoot truck! I don't think it would have been too bad had I not been loaded down the backpack with beer!
I was doing well slopping my way through the rain soaked plowed fields, until I had to maneuver my body over the barbed wire fence. You can see where this is going, can't you?
As I put my weight on one foot, I soon recalled my basic junior high school physics lessons, in that lifting one foot only increases the weight per square inch on the only remaining foot. Into the mud I descended and thus lowered my crotch on to the barbed wire. There I was, caught up on barbed wire in the pre-dawn hours in the middle of a farmer's field playing a tug of war with the fence. Lucky for me I have the strength of 3 fishermen at that time of the day and I just went for the whole nine yards and lept over the fence while doing what equated to some sort of exquisite dance move.... all the while using my crotch as the center of balance because it was the pivot point at that moment!
As I gracefully landed both feet on the far side of the fence, I realized that in tipping forward, my beer landed out in the mud. This was only a preview of the rest of my day. Let's just say, picture it raining, the woods being too wet to start a fire for warmth, and too stubborn to leave. Lucky for us we salvaged the beer!
Due to there still being a lot of ice on the river, we didn't really get any fish... but we gave it a great shot! I was never so glad to get home to a hot shower, as I was that day. After that.. I didn't go for opening season. I gladly wait until the temperature has warmed up the river banks so that I can sit there enjoying ... the bugs!
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