Posting on another thread earlier has sparked some thoughts during this time of pandemic. Mainly right now I tend to think of all the things I wish I was doing but can't, and the wishing makes them seem all the sweeter.

For instance, the simple pleasure of going out for a leisurely breakfast (during many years of working idling over breakfast was usually reserved for holidays or weekends and thus became a metaphor for the work free life) becomes almost a desperate desire when it is something you can't do.

This Memorial Weekend is the start of fishing season in Idaho and the vision of Henry's Lake, perhaps the best trout lake anywhere in the West during opening, takes on a bigger dimension now that I am denied being there as I have been many times. In my mind the fish are bigger and ready to throw themselves into the boat. If only I was there. The cold, rain and sleet, usual on many openings, disappears from the picture and I only remember the warmer, sunnier openings.

Pleasure denied, it seems, only tends to make the things missed all the tastier.

Leonard Nimoy said,

“After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but is often true.”

Kathleen, I just someone could put it more succinctly than me. Illogical times call for the ability to cut to the core.

Nightingale, I am not familiar with Gregory Clark. I must admit I enjoy the association with friends (insults and disparaging remarks about each other's fishing skills) as much as the actual fishing.

You do know that I lived in Canada for about 4 years prior to moving to SLC. Two years in Toronto sandwiched around 2 years in Montreal. Worked for the then biggest publisher in Canada McLean-Hunter. I enjoyed my time in Toronto more than Quebec and have fond memories of my time there...but not the winters. Victoria (Oak Bay) is one of my favorite all time places to visit.

The mix of Scots, Irish and English is an interesting one. My brother's wife is from Dublin and one of his daughters is married to a man from Wales and lives there. I worked with a number of Scots in London before moving to NA. Lots of friendly bickering much like any family.

Thank you for your comments. I'll check out the May 8 post. We talked earlier about Vera Lynn. I just read that she is the oldest artist at 103 to crack the top 40 in the UK with a reissue of one of her albums. All spurred, I think, by the current "war" situation and the 75th commemoration of the real one.

kentish Wrote:
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> Nightingale, I am not familiar with Gregory Clark.
> I must admit I enjoy the association with friends
> (insults and disparaging remarks about each
> other's fishing skills) as much as the actual
> fishing.

I hadn't realized or had forgotten that you lived in Canada. "Back East" as we call it. I lived in Montreal for a year (when I was a JW) and visited Toronto a couple of times. I prefer Western Canada, with its more temperate climate and amazing scenery. Love the ocean!

Victoria is among my favourite places on earth. I love Oak Bay too. We were going to go over there for Christmas last year but thought better of it when we saw the $500.00/night price tag for one room! It can be pricey there but you can keep it in check. Every time I tried to go last year something interfered, such as major demonstrations at the Legislature downtown, issues with ferries, then the big bucks they wanted for a Victoria Christmas and now the pandemic. One big change they've made is that you have to stay in your car below decks now. No more rushing up to the buffet and to grab a window seat, watching for whales. Before COVID you weren't allowed to stay in your car due to safety concerns (can't get out in a hurry if there's an issue or accident with the ferry, or something like that).


Re Vera: I know, it's incredible, absolutely, that she's still in the charts. I had no clue until I looked up that song recently that she was that age. She sure still sounds good. And doesn't look half bad. I sure wish my mom could have lasted as long. That would have been incredible. And we had all teased her for years about hanging about until she got the Queen's telegram. But she's gone on ahead now. She would have loved to observe the 75th.


Re Gregory Clark: One of his books was right here on my library shelf. He said "fishing is the least objectionable way of doing nothing". That always makes me laugh. He called fishing "highly respectable" and "outdoorsy". "Fishing is unique" he says.

He's one of those writers who is so mellow and just talks about ordinary things but in an appealing way. His books are from the 70s, the ones I have. My dad gave them to me. Dad wasn't a fisherman but he loved Gregory Clark.

Maybe you'll be able to get out and catch a few - or not - sooner than we think. I'd think it's one of those pastimes that will be deemed to be safe as you're likely not in a crowded place when you drop your line.

I was in an Oak Bay restaurant a few years ago. As I left I asked the cashier if she was always lived on the island. When she said yes, I asked her how she would sum up Victoria and the surrounding area. She thought for a moment and replied: "It's a gentle place." She nailed it.

Kentish, my husband and I make an annual trip to Victoria, always near the end of April. Sadly, this year's trip had to be cancelled, but we are hopeful we will make it next year.

We stay in the James Bay neighbourhood. Our hotel is next to Beacon Hill Park, and is right behind the Provincial Museum. It's a 5 minute walk to downtown, the inner harbour and the Empress Hotel. We can hop on a water taxi to Fisherman's Warf, and have a leisurely half an hour walk home. We often start our morning with breakfast in a favourite nearby restaurant and then walk to the lighthouse at Ogden Point.

Writing all of this has brought back so many sweet memories, and when we are able to return we'll be so glad and grateful!

kentish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kathleen, I just someone could put it more
> succinctly than me. Illogical times call for the
> ability to cut to the core.

You were succinct, Kentish. I know how you feel. I just remembered the Leonard Nimoy quote at that moment and posted it. I didn’t mean to detract from what you were saying. Yours is a wonderful and sensitive post.

kentish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ... wishing makes them
> seem all the sweeter.

This is a sweet post. I really enjoyed reading it. It feels like Sunday today as it's a long weekend so yay, Monday off. (Not that I'm working during the pandemic but still somehow this feels like a special day).


> For instance, the simple pleasure of going out
> for a leisurely breakfast becomes almost a
> desperate desire when it is something you can't
> do.

I absolutely relate. I used to visit my sister on a weekend and we'd go out for a meal. I didn't realize how much that meant to me, especially since our mom passed away last summer and we kept going back to the same restaurant we used to take her to for a special treat. It was bittersweet but sometimes that can be healing.

Even though we're opening up here in a lot of ways and people have burst forth out into the spring sunshine, the health gurus are saying that restaurants will be among the last places to reopen, due to the higher risk (confined space, recirculated air, crowded, much loud chatter, public eating/drinking - all still considered high risk at the moment). I do keep reminding myself that others are actually suffering and if this is on my Top 10 problem list I'm one of the most fortunate ones.


> In my mind the fish are bigger and ready
> to throw themselves into the boat.

This made me laugh. Bigger, happier, freer fish perhaps. :)


> The cold, rain and sleet, usual on many
> openings, disappears from the picture and I only
> remember the warmer, sunnier openings.

That's a beautiful feature of fond memories.


> Pleasure denied, it seems, only tends to make the
> things missed all the tastier.

This comment puts your post right smack bang on topic! Some religions are all about pleasure denied.

But seriously, I hate to bring religion into this sweet little holiday post. Sorry I mentioned it.

Hey, kentish. Have you ever read Gregory Clark? He was a Canadian writer who absolutely loved fishing. I don't even care for it - too slimy, wormy and glassy-eyed for me - but I loved reading about Clark's abiding passion and pleasure in his fishing trips. He is from way back. I used to have most of his books but think there's only one or two left to hand now. I'd guess he's only available in second-hand shops and likely only in Canada. Ha. That's one of our favourite slogans: Only in Canada. To us, hopefully that's usually a positive comment.

My other hey, kentish, is did you happen to see the post I sent you for May 8? If not and you find it sometime I hope the links are still active. Quite a sight. If I didn't include the Red Arrows over London, maybe you can look that one up too. My brother and I enjoyed the videos, keeping the faith, so to speak, with our English parents, both now gone from us but both always so supportive of "the old country" and the vets.


Edit to Correct: My mom was actually Scottish and her mom was Irish. I used to call both my parents English as Dad was born there and Mom grew up there (as her Scottish Dad, a Gordon Highlander, was posted in Aldershot and they ended up staying). Mom always corrected me when I called her English. I should remember that and quit doing it at last.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2020 03:15PM by Nightingale.

Nightingale, I checked out the post. Thank you. I did keep up with most the the events there and enjoyed the coverage the end of the war received. I remember as a very young boy the street celebrations of VE Day. I particularly liked the Spitfire sequence. The iconic symbol for every boy of my generation. I was lucky to be near Dover a few years ago to see Spitfires being filmed for the movie Dunkirk. There's nothing quite so thrilling as the sound of the Spitfire's Merlin engine...unless it's two in the equally amazing WW2 Mosquito.

Me too re the Spitfires.

We just had a tragedy here in Canada during an aerial display of our Snowbirds.

Wiki: "The Snowbirds, officially known as 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, are the military aerobatics or air show flight demonstration team of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The team is based at 15 Wing Moose Jaw near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan."

They were putting on a show in B.C. to raise the spirits of people during COVID-19 and one of the planes crashed, killing one of the two occupants. Investigation is still new and ongoing.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/plane-crash-kamloops-1.5573930

I thought again of the Spits and Arrows that I watched (via video) on May 8, thanks to your post.

Sadness abounds in this life. You have to be sure and grab for the happiness and joy when you can.

I saw that. How tragic.

(Asking for a fiend)

Caffeine. Not since 72. I worked on some well known children's weeklies in the UK (older Brits here would know the titles)business magazines in Canada,and the DN in SLC. Had a varied career after. Strangely it is that part of my life that gives me most satisfaction as I look back.

I would play with my little grandchildren on the floor, and once in a while one of them would grab a book, and start walking backwards--sometimes from clear across the room, from wherever he picked up the book--backwards, until his little body would plop down snuggled in my lap. We would read, with our heads touching, and the others would wedge in next to me, as close as possible. Oh, how I miss that. That was comforting to all of us. Now, I have to back away, and read from across the patio, on separate seats 10 feet away, and hold up the pictures for them to see. It's not the same, but, thankfully, we can at least be 10 feet close, and see each other's smiles, and talk to teach other. Children need physical contact more than adults, which makes it hard.

Ah, Henry's Lake! I spent all my summers on Hebgen Lake, fishing for rainbow trout, with my father and brothers. No, I don't think of the dramatic thunder storms or of the big earthquake. I was there for that, but we kept going back anyway. A wild paradise for any child!

My heavens, when I was a kid we spent a couple of weeks each summer at Lake Hebgen (is it LH or HL?). Inexplicably, given the geographical distance and cultural differences, my father became friends with a man who let us use his cabin there several times. I recall being told of the 1959 earthquake--it seemed like ancient history--and remember trolling for trout as well as an afternoon thunderstorm during which a bolt of lightning exploded above our car, sending chunks of wood raining down.

When Kentish mentioned Henry's Lake I thought about mentioning those summers, but then I read your account and lost all choice in the matter. A few years later some adventurous friends and I traveled to the other side of the state to run the Salmon River, which I remember as more rugged and exciting than the Snake--plus we had to cook our meals and sleep on the shore.

Anyway, much of Idaho is beautiful--spectacular, actually. Thanks to you and to Kentish for triggering those fond memories, which I haven't indulged for a long time.




ETA: Looking at a map, our modest cabin was on one of the arms, perhaps Madison. I was little but remember rounding a promontory and seeing a much larger, and more intimidating, body of water open up before us.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2020 04:38AM by Lot's Wife.

I would love to run the Salmon. Film I have seen suggests it is a spectacular area. I did run the Colorado through the Grand Canyon some years ago after hiking in on the Bright Angel trail and out through Havasupai. Following Havasu Creek up from the Colorado to the rim was the most amazingly beautiful place I have ever been.

The Salmon is a blast. The rapids are much more challenging than those on the Snake (and any other river I've run). I suspect there is substantially more supporting infrastructure now than when I was there--we were completely out of touch for several days--but the ride and the scenery should still be wonderful.

Those were unforgettable experiences.

Today, for the first time since March, I heard the sound of children in the primary school in our German neighborhood. It was good to hear. It used to annoy me.

Funny you should post about Henry's Lake. I was thinking just yesterday of fishing trips to Henry's Lake with my uncle. He was one the kindest, funniest people I have known. I miss his jokes and laughter, and I was thinking how it felt to sit in the canoe with the rain drizzling down, not talking but just watching our lines float on the water while the trout were rising. He died 25 years ago this summer. The last time I talked to him he was standing in his hospital room, the nurses couldn't keep him lying down. He told me that he learned in WWII no matter how bad you are hurt, keep standing, and they can't bury you.

I have been doing an annual fishing trip with the same group of people (all of us now dispersed from where we lived in Utah) for more than 25 years. It began with visits to Henry's but has branched out to other areas of the country to accommodate travel needs for individuals. The best fishing has always been Henry's but while we tend to forget the number and size of fish, the memories of time spent together never dim.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder as proximity destroys the illusion.

Every silver lining has a cloud.

We seem to be good at editing our memories.




"Beauty is a short lived tyranny." George Bernard Shaw




Don't mind me Kentish, I am still spiraling down. Will pull out of the nose dive in a bit but will continue to wallow just a bit like a bath that has lost its heat.

Miss the quiet small town of the country. Long time in the metropolis.

Wouldn't you know. Opening day at Henry's is reported to be the best for years. Some really big trout being caught there but not by me.

I really miss the simple things, like being able to stop at a convenience store without thinking about it, and grab my own donuts and coffee, and not have to worry about picking up a newspaper. I miss our former world where we didn't have to constantly worry about germs.

And yes, I miss the frequent family invites for dinner and an overnight. I miss the closeness.