Angus was carefully backing out of the cabin as I cleaned up breakfast dishes. He had just spent 15 minutes gathering his fishing gear, attaching his reel to the fly rod, threading the line and tying on the perfect tiny fly and was now loading up the Jeep so I could drop him off at the stream. He was maneuvering out of the door trying to get that loooong pole when the wooden screen door slapped against the pole. It snapped. He silently brought the pole back into the cabin to inspect the damage. I watched silently, too, wondering if this would ruin this fishing trip he had looked forward to for weeks.

He laid the pole down and began to unthread it and take the reel off. He went out to the Jeep and brought in his old, shorter pole and began the process all over again. I don't know why he had thrown in the old pole but what a blessing that he had! I know that Angus tends to notice the negative so I worried that he would hold his new broken pole in his thoughts all day and let it fester.

I dropped him at the stream and gathered my sketch book, notebook and camera and headed off to do my own thing. I wrote a few postcards, journaled a bit, then decided to hike a little. I chose the path along the bluffs and the stream hoping to get a glimpse of Angus.

The days was one of those perfect early Fall days..very cool in the morning warming up to a blue-sky day with that crispness in the air that one can only feel in the Autumn. I took photos of the stream and the trees and of fisherman and the arched bridge and the blue sky with the white branches of a sycamore tree and its' starting-to-turn leaves and of an old rusty Stop sign. All along the stream I saw people catching trout and I hoped that Angus was doing the same.

He was! He had caught and released several and then caught his limit while watched and photographed. Perfect timing! He cleaned the fish and packed them away in the cooler as I unpacked lunch. We sat in lawn chairs under the trees to eat our sandwhiches and I listened to his fishing stories. It was beautiful.

Yes, he tells everyone had badly the trip began, although it really had begun well. The nice car trip (I didn't even fall asleep like I usually do!), the quiet late dinner, the rustic cabin, the sleeping in (soooo rare), the good breakfast, all happened before the "Pole Incident". But, for him, maybe the whole fishing experience was richer because of the bad part. Maybe he recognized that crummy stuff happens and life goes on and can get better!

The fine fresh trout dinner with the family was wonderful. Life is good!