July 31, 2016
My wife took my children yesterday to see their grandparents in California. Leaving me alone home alone Bachelor style is somewhat a rarity. Usually, whenever I’m alone I’m it’s in a hotel somewhere for work. I found myself wondering what I should to do without my kids. I’m sure there’s million things I should be doing, like cleaning house, yard work, laundry or something else productive, but I thought I try and do something I used to really enjoy, Fly Fishing. The truth is I used to be a rather avid and good fisherman, even working one summer as a Fly fishing guide. My engagement story has me proposing to my wife by tying her ring to the end of her fly rod. I really do love it, but it too has become somewhat frustrating for me.
The last time I tried to Fly Fish I just couldn’t do it. The river was moving much too fast for my balance and my tremor was much too strong to tie the artificial fly onto tippet or any other type of delicate knots. Flyfishing with Parkinson’s just isn’t a combination that seems to be made for each other. I had come home totally defeated and Kristin could see it in my eyes, in which she could only say it would be OK. Tonight with nothing to do, I had decided I would try again, late July on a hot Summers night I found the river was way down and much easier to wade.
For those of you that don’t know anything about Parkinson’s, my individual tremor specifically is triggered by stress and anxiety; if I’m stressed I shake, sometimes violently. I’d had a bad week with work and I needed some type of relaxation. Still not real steady on my feet in the water I was able to to fish. I struggled a bit changing flies and tying knots and making the graceful casts that used to come so naturally. Fly fishing is all about presentation reading water all while mending the line to put the fly into a natural position to hopefully fool a hungry fish.
The was hatch finally on, and it was now getting dark, I needed to put a size 18 caddis on which is a relatively small. The best time to fish was now and I was racing the clock for what was left of daylight! My coordination just wasn’t there and I became easily frustrated by seeing fish rising to the surface all while one of my hands just wouldn’t cooperate allowing me to tie on the much smaller fly. This was supposed to be relaxing for me and I gradually began to curse under my breath. Then, I finally looked up from my trembling hand to see a deer watching me from the river bank not more than 20 feet away, we stared at each other for several minutes and then she moved on. That was my moment; making all of the I can’t do this into I’m glad I came. There is beauty in everything you just have to know how to find it, I sometimes get lost in trying to realize that.
I did finally get the smaller fly on and did catch several fish. Later in the evening I even hooked into a more sizable fish that got away, but that’s another story.
#parkinsonsfight #tryanddoiitbetter #findyourmomements #idahofamily #prayforacure #alwaysinmycorner #fightparkinsons #Jehovarophe