Fly-fishing & Politics: Don’t Lose Your Load

Growing up watching Dad fly-fish while I used a ‘cane-pole’ got old pretty quick on those family vacations. It seems every time Dad would take the time to ‘teach’ me to “be patient”,  and to “let the rod do the work”, “remember ten o’clock-two o’clock” etc, I’d tangle it all up, quickly throw something, whine and complain, then BOOM.  There I’d be, back to standing there with a ‘cane-pole’ watching his effortless casting that looked like Tinkerbelle waving that wand. It made absolutely NO sense for this skilled sportsman to say those things to me, “he must be daffy” I’d think, or “he’s telling me the opposite because he doesn’t want me to learn” and then I’d try it my own way. What I would give to go back in time, abandon that ridiculous, youthful notion that I really knew better. He was so wise about EVERYTHING at a time when I believed he was completely clueless. He was the same way in teaching me about horses~that a tiny movement with my little finger was enough to send the right signal to my horses mouth . . .in my stupidity, I ‘knew better’ . . . that jerking the reins hard enough to get his attention was the way to go. I was about as flexible at learning as a brick. I wonder how much of Dads fishing gear I ruined and horses I soured?

At 14 or so, I was scared enough of him to at least look like I was trying it his way, and so finally it clicked. What do you know? That beautiful, soul rhythm portrayed in “A River Runs Through It” really can be had by the average Joe . . .or Jane as in this case. And it’s not about catching fish, though that’s a fun part of the sport. It’s about living in rhythm. We love Fly-fishing even now, and it seems like every time we go, I can hear Dad’s voice in my mind~”Not yet, wait, let the rod do the work. Don’t lose your load.” That was the one thing he’d say over, and over, and over, “Don’t lose your load.” That took me about 6 years to understand what it even meant. Fly line floats. When it’s floating out in front of you, and it’s time to cast it out again, logic says to jerk it with force and sling it hard backward, then with mighty force fling it forward again. That’s what I tried for all those brick-headed years. That’s why every time, the fly line landed in a heap either in front of me or right behind. (I can hear his voice in my head here) When you lift the line up to cast again, the friction of the floating line against the water loads your rod ( that’s why the tip of your rod bends. That energy has to go somewhere.). When you stop your ‘cast’ at the ten o’clock’ mark, that’s when your rod does the work. The energy stored in the rod tip is what forces the line straight back behind you. The hardest part is to STOP at ten o’clock, and let that rod do the work! Then, when you move your arm forward, STOP at two o’clock~again, hard to do~and let the rod move that line straight out in front of you. It defies logic. If you’ve ever tried it and given up, please try again. It can be done, and it’s a lot less work than you think.

What does all that have to do with politics? Not much. Just like fly-fishing has little to do with catching fish. It’s about living, in rhythm. In the last few years, we’ve seen an unprecedented amount of spending . . . of money that doesn’t exist. Obama has just brought it to everyones attention because he wants to spend more of this imaginary money. We’ve got very serious problems in the health care system, and major changes need to happen. So why is the public so against the Pelosi bill? Because we don’t know what it is, and it may bankrupt us, that’s why. Is it because 60%  or more Americans want the uninsured to suffer because they can’t pay 700 dollars for an aspirin? No. Something has to change in our ‘big picture’, the whole climate of this country needs to shift. It’s time to re-cast. So far, this administration has made the same mistakes I made when I was ten. They are trying to force this legislation (among others) down our throats, just like I tried to force that fly line way out behind, then in front of me. Yesterdays election results in New Jersey and Virginia are this administrations fly line piling up in a heap. Stop the shotgun approach, learn from what works, and let’s do this right within the boundaries of The Constitution. Health care is not a ‘right’, but we ought to be able to take care of people in need. Let’s do this with wisdom, compassion and thoughtfulness.

The Republicans are standing by silently with their ‘cane-pole’, and the Democrats are busy trying to untangle. This is OUR opportunity. The American spirit MUST rise and do this thing ourselves. Politicians ain’t gettin nowhere. If we’re going to keep this Republic, and I think we should, we need to teach these guys how to fly-fish. I believe we are finally getting Washington’s attention~they work for US.

The “grass roots” movement we’ve seen in the last couple of months isn’t Republican OR Democrat. It’s American. Let’s not get frustrated or give up. Our best days are ahead of us. . . if we don’t lose our load.

Amidst all this chaos . . . God loves me . . .