Delightful Reading

I guess I knew it would happen. You can only stretch 211 pages so far. Still, I was disappointed when reached the end of Tents, Boats and the Ones That Got Away by Tim Mead. I nursed it the best I could -- reading only a chapter at a time, and not every day -- because I realized right away that I would come to the end too soon. Still, the end did come. Thankfully, I can revisit these stories. As Tim notes in Chapter 26, sharing a lesson he learned from a librarian many years ago, some books should be read more than once.

Of course, a few of my "on deck" books also make this one a little easier to finish because the list stemmed from its contents. I was excited to get Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler, Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac and Henry David Thoreau's Walden for Christmas. I've read A Sand County Almanac, but it has been too many years, and I did not own a copy. I certainly should have read the others, but I haven't.

Tim's stories, which he says are "the truth, mainly," quoting Mark Twain, are built around fishing trips and a few other outdoor adventures, but they are about much more. Sounds cliché to say that, I realize, but it this case it's true. He does an astounding job capturing the wonders of spending time on the water with friends (and alone), the sense of accomplishment in learning a skill, the joy of teaching a skill or passing along a passion to someone else, the thrill of discovering new places, the odd romance of sometimes-miserable conditions... The list could go on. Tim also weaves in life philosophies without preaching, is candid about his own relationships, and shares many of the influences on him as an angler and as an outdoor writer.

Tim Mead is a long-time friend. (He would say, an old friend.) And we've spent a fair amount of time together both on and off the water. Therefore, many of the stories' characters and settings -- and even a few of the stories themselves -- in Tents, Boats and the Ones That Got Away were already familiar to me. The personal tie (including my own name in one surprise mention) added an element of fun. However, my greatest reading joy, and one I'm certain would be shared by virtually any angler or close friend of an angler, came from very relatable themes throughout the book and stories told in a way that simply make them fun to read.

Tim and I have a plan to fish together soon, and I look forward to trading some fish stories and creating a few new ones. Ideally not a memorable story about a fish that gets away, but if so, I suppose that's OK!

Fish Stories

With most folks gone from offices and the other end of emails, and no pressing deadlines of my own, I got a little restless at the keyboard yesterday. Plus, it was dark outside, and I felt like the trout would bite. It didn't take too much pondering of such things before I decided to grab Asher, gather a bit of junk and head for a creek.

The trout indeed cooperated and we caught them pretty well for a fairly short afternoon outing, but that might be a different blog.

What strikes me on this Thanksgiving morning is how grateful I am that I can turn off the computer and head for the creek in the middle of the day and legitimately still be doing my job. We got photos and content that I will use in stories.

I was probably Asher's age or a bit younger when started thinking about the fact that someone had to write those articles in the fishing magazines and decided I wanted to do that when I grew up. The idea that God allows me to earn a living by "writing fish stories" astounds me and makes me very thankful.

It's not just about fishing either -- although I certainly am thankful to get to fish in so many places and call it work. I'm also thankful to be able to work from home with flexible hours, to share my work and at times my travel with my family and to be creative in my work through writing and photography.

My work is ever changing, and over the past couple of decades my major workload has shifted from the magazine features I originally envisioned, to shorter magazine work, to internet stories, to social media post and other content projects. It's still writing fish stories, though, and for that I give thanks this morning.

Fish Stories

"writes fish stories"

That's my unofficial job description, and while I don't suppose it's quite complete it's a decent summary of how I get to earn my living. I'm thinking about that on this Thanksgiving because I'm immensely thankful that God allows me to use something that I enjoy so much to put food on my family's dinner table.

The big picture probably isn't quite what many folks paint it when they see my basement full of gear or track the places I get to travel and folks I get to fish with. I don't just get paid to go fishing. That said, I do get spend a fair amount of my work time playing with friends in wonderful places. As importantly, beyond my obvious fondness for fishing, I really enjoy the writing and photography parts of my job.

I'm also very thankful that my work allows me to be self-employed, meaning I can work from home, picks the trips that suit my business and my family and control my own schedule, as long as the work gets done. Although I do travel quite a bit, I believe working from home, with my wife also at home and our children home-schooled, allows me more time with my children than many dads get to enjoy.

Of course I'm thankful for the cool places I get to visit as I gather photos and story material. This year's trips have taken me from New York's Niagara River to South Dakota's Black Hills to Mexico's El Salto.

I don't know what next year (or next week) will bring, but for now I'm happy to be writing fish stories and thankful for each opportunity.

Home Work

People occasionally ask how I get anything done working at home with six children. My question is how anyone gets anything done in an office setting. I've spent enough time in offices to know how frequently other people roam in and out of your workspace, whether to ask a question, hand you a new task or comment on a recent ballgame. When I was employed with of a home office but occasionally visited the main office, my least productive days, almost without exception, were those I spent in the home office. Those days had distinctive virtue and were necessary to my job, but I sure didn't get as much of the day-to-day work done as I would during virtually any day at home -- and I sure remember all the destractions of a previous job where I was in an office every day.

My children are often around while I'm working, but they've never known anything other than me working from home and they respect my work time. They sit quietly while I'm writing, knowing I'll visit with them when I'm able to do so. I also do all my writing from a laptop, so it's easy to move from the couch to my office, the dining room or the bedroom when the living room gets a little too loud or active for me to concentrate well.

And on those days when the words just won't flow -- assuming there's nothing that absolutely has to be written that day -- it might be time to grab one or two of the people around me and head for a nearby creek or pond to do a little "field work" and gather some fresh photos and story material!