The Real Secret of Life

Four times this summer, coming and going, I traversed I-25 along the front range of the Colorado Rockies. Each time it was socked in with clouds and rain. The last time, on September 2nd, I could see the contours of Long's Peak, but that was it. That rain was just a portent of what was soon to come.

Below are photos of the Big Thompson River and Highway 34 taken by the Air National Guard during the flood. I've driven that road up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. These images are representative of the incredible amount of damage across a great swath of Colorado. You don't think it could happen in a hundred years, and then the "Hundred Year Flood" happens to hit.

Each time I passed along the front range this summer I thought about the Mysteries Internal blog, and Erin Block. Her canyon is up there somewhere. When the floods came I was concerned for her and Banjo and Jay and her neighbors. Thanks to Erin's writing, I feel like I know them.

I was happy to receive a comment from Erin today on my inconsequential post facetiously titled "The Secret of Life." I replied, asking how she and her canyon had fared. She responded with this:

We got hit pretty hard. Main road out is washed out and just got gas turned back on today after two weeks. But all in all we really lucked out and property/cabin is ok!

That is good news. My thoughts and prayers go out to Erin and her neighbors and all who are living through this disaster.

Oh, and I think I've learned a little something about the real secret of life from Erin, from the fact that she commented on a humorous post, from her previous writings about her mid-western farm upbringing, and from the above reply: be strong, keep a sense of humor--and count your blessings.

Angels and Dudes

Something good has been happening in the fly fishing world. I've been aware of it, I think, but something about this photo finally brought it home to me. The women have arrived.

Photo from The Female Angle

It reminds me of a piece Erin Block wrote, What I Want To Be. What she wants to be is:

"A fisherman. Not a fisherwoman. Not a fisherperson.....I know full well what this belief of mine means, and what writing this means. It means that as a woman in a male-dominated world I have to be as good as, no --- better than --- most of the men. That is, if I want to be taken seriously. And I do. And I will be. I'm not just a pair of breasts in waders. I'm no trophy, nor are my fish.....My kind of feminism isn't sexualized. I'm a woman and I think that's fairly obvious. I don't need to have a pink rod or waders that hug my hips. And I don't need to be overly tough and bitchy to make my point. My kind of feminism, my way of being a woman, means that I will cast and tie and fish as well as men. Not out of spite, or to impress, but out of respect. For you -- and, for myself. I want to fish with you – not against or behind.... A good fisherman. That is what I want to be."

I don't know if all women feel that way. But when I look at this photo I think I understand what Erin is saying. At some point, gender becomes secondary, and we're all fly fishermen.

The Rogue Angels blog has a long list of links to blogs by and about women fly fishermen. They call them "Fishy Blogs by Angels." Erin Block's blog, Mysteries Internal, is in the list.

Then they have a long list of what they call "Fishy Dude Blogs." Yeah, the dudes. The men fly fishermen.

Looking at my blog list on this blog I have lots of dudes and only two angels.

So I was remembering an old saying, that a bird with one wing can't fly. That has been applied, rightly, it seems to me, to gender inequality in our world. The point is that a male dominated society--or sport--becomes like a bird who has cut off one of its own wings.

In that spirit, I'm adding Rogue Angels to my blog list, and, through them, all the angels in their list.

The fact is, I think angels need two strong wings, too. And maybe, just maybe, there's a little bit of angel in every dude, and a little bit of dude in every angel.

Michelle Houle and Rainbow. Photo from Rogue Angels