Saturday, March 28, 2009

Just a Cigar?

What is it about a cigar that can bring one's ship hard about from gloom to bliss? Today, with the capable assistance of Number One Son, we conquered the Early Spring Yard Cleanup, topped off with a beautiful new flagstone landing for the deck stairs. But the euphoria for the day's triumphs truly blossomed with the ignition of a fine Rocky Patel Rosado. What a cigar! A sweet floral smoke, with spice on the palate. The clouds of aromatic smoke were like that of drifting remains of cannonade as Wellington surveyed the Waterloo field at the end of that magnificent day.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Why Do You Fish?


I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly; because of the television commercials, cocktail parties and assorted social posturing I thus escape; because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; because bourbon out of an old tin cup tastes better out there; because maybe someday I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun. - John Voelker
The Voelker Foundation keeps his ideals alive through law school scholarships, writing competitions, and trout habitat restoration activities.
Perfection?

It's becoming harder to tie tippet to leader as the years accumulate and one's eyesight develops limitations. Much time is lost in midstream by fat-fingered tying of surgeon's knots (it always happens during a hatch!). So we will experiment this year with loop-to-loop connections, with lots of 16" tippet segments pre-tied with Perfection Loops. And we also have a tool to thread 6x tippet through the eyes of size 18 dry fly hooks...

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Inciting the Mob.

The of chorus of outrage at AIG has a disturbing tone: bulldozing the rule of law in order to satisfy the mob's bloodlust. Holman Jenkins summarized it quite well this morning, He concluded with:

But the biggest lesson here is the old one that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance -- beginning with insistence on the rule of law. Americans clearly cannot trust their elected officials to defend their rights and interests, or care whether justice is served, when the slightest political risk might attach to doing so.

Which brings us back to Mr. Cuomo, whose office has been implicitly threatening to publish names of AIG employees who don't relinquish pay they were contractually entitled to.

Mr. Cuomo is a thug, but at least he reminds us: It can happen here.

And for those of you holding a torch or pitchfork, consider this point of view.