Five days in Wyoming. Hard to believe after another five back at home. Good trip, though a few bumps were encountered. Weather wasn’t bad on the way up, save for hazed-over skies from the fires in the pacific northwest, but was driven down the mountain a day early owing to cold, weather.
Got in some excellent reading time during the day, and a few nice walks in the late afternoons. Saw a number of pronghorn, and a surprising number of sage hens—more than I’ve run into up there since I was a kid.
Broke the tip joint on my flyrod the day before going to the middle fork, but managed to catch a handful of good trout in spite of it. Caught and released most, and kept one good rainbow for dinner on Monday night. Contacted the folks at G. Loomis after returning to the Springs, and was pleased to know they’ll replace my entire rig before month’s end. Be sorry to say goodbye to the old rod—caught a lot of nice fish with it—but have no choice except to move on. Good news is, I won’t have to fork out $800 for a new outfit.
Read The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt while on the mountain, and liked it so much I had to turn to non-fiction rather than spoil the mood it left me in. Quite an entertaining read. Nicely imagined, skillfully executed. Have since embarked on the Harvard Classic’s version of Jean Froissart’s Chronicle’s of the Hundred Years War, also quite entertaining.
Working on a draft I’d stashed away in a drawer last spring, and feel pretty good about the progress I’ve been making. Hope to have the piece in readable shape within the next ten days, but it keeps trying to grow, so the effort may take longer than expected. Can’t pull in the reins when the mind wants to roam. Just have to run with it. If it sucks, cutting back is never a problem and almost always a joy.
On the home front, still waiting for the bricklayers to finish the last jog of wall. Other projects have stalled because of the lack of progress, but there isn’t much to do about it. Other, more lucrative jobs, keep getting in the crew’s way. Just hope we can wrap things up before the cold weather sets in.