Certain times call for certain measures
Well, isn’t this an interesting time we’re having? So many people out of work, sick, worried and confused. And just as many (it seems) making fun of the whole situation. And here I am building fishing poles. Thankfully in many places people are still able to get out and fish. I went last week. Twice. Once with my son Graeme (11 years old) and Dave and another time with Dave. It was great to get out. The fish had absolutely no clue that there was a pandemic going on. They were waking up from winter and hungry. In one place the water was high and it was hard to get a fly to slow down enough to be caught by a trout but it was magic when it happened. Now we’re under mandatory stay at home unless you going to get food, have an essential job or are out for medical reasons. I think exercise is another one that’s permissible. And I think under the exercise part that fishing in certain places is okay provided you drive separately and no fist bumps for good fish caught. I’ll write more about the fishing later.
Last week I also started a strange little rod. Ryan, a (non fishing) friend called me and said, if you don’t make a 6’ rod then you ought to and you should call it the ‘Social Distance Special’. Well, I do, and I did. I don’t really know what I’m going to do with it though. It’s a little funky and out of the ordinary. But maybe someone will like it?
Here’s a picture after I turned the grip/seat. I’ll post the completed picture later today or tomorrow.
Abomination or innovation?
My family has a way with words sometimes. We tend to butcher common sayings and then they become normal sayings. Not too long ago when talking about something I don’t remember, my 15 year old daughter Maren lamented some kind of hard thing that was going on and having to make difficult choices in those situations said, ‘you know what they say, certain times call for certain measures’. I think what she meant was ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’ but the idea is the same. That’s one that stuck. Anyway, this morning I set up a tent in my back yard. Partly for my family to have a legal place to escape to and partly for me to escape from them. I love my family. But sometimes I can’t handle them. So here I am sitting in the tent with my laptop writing about nothing in particular. Graeme is enjoying a ‘teacher work day’ by reading and practicing his drums and listening to music. Most of the time all at the same time. Maren is holed up in her room working on school work and occasionally comes down for sustenance. My wife Valerie is an administrator of a small private school and is working harder than ever to keep everyone connected and learning. She’s an educational rock star that is working tirelessly. Today she’s primarily on conference calls with various staff members. WAY more conversations going on than normal.
Our house is about 1800 square feet. Normally it is plenty big enough for us. Most of the time I’m home alone working on rods. It’s quiet and any noises that are made, I am the one responsible. But now it’s different. There are random noises, people talking and who knows what all going on. There’s a constant sense of tension now for me. There’s this thing called Auditory Processing Disorder. I have it. In my case it basically means that everything I hear my brain tries to pay attention to. Basically my brain doesn’t filter out all the extra and inapplicable sounds and tries to process everything I hear. It’s tiring in loud environments. Not great for going out to eat at restaurants where I can hear nearly every conversation going on within a certain radius. It’s taking a bit of getting used to having everyone here all the time. Again, I love my family so it’s worth the effort but also worth trying to come up with accommodations for dealing with the ‘new normal’.
But all that said, people all over the place are going through some hard times. You never know exactly what is going on with a person - they may have a relative that they can’t go visit for one reason or another, can’t go to work and are concerned how they will pay for the necessities, they may have an inexplicable anxiety about how the world seems to be falling down, extreme loneliness, overeating,. So, please extend a little grace to those you come in contact with (socially distanced' of course). They probably need it, as do you. My family is extending grace to me right now and I truly appreciate it.
Next time I promise to write more about fishing or rods or something like that. I guess I just needed to write about something a little more in front of my face today. Thanks for listening.
Now, time for me to go finish up the ‘Social Distance Special’ and a few other rods. Find a way to enjoy these times. Go for a walk or go fishing if appropriate. Listen to music. Call a friend. Stay away from the news if possible. Play an instrument. Tie some flies. Write a letter. Adopt a puppy. Bake some cookies. But be kind to each other above all.