River Diaries: July 16th 2023

Walking a Mountain Stream For Brook Trout, Thinking About Women.

Dirty paws and a brookie from my mountain

This summer I fell in love with with fly fishing all over again. It’s a sport I always enjoyed, but had neglected. My limited off-farm recreation time was usually spent doing what I loved most: running, hiking, and horseback riding. But a bad ankle injury from two years ago never fully healed and has made those sports inaccessible. So, to be able to engage with nature, animals, and the outdoors again— fly fishing was a blessing.

Now it’s an addiction.

I started writing diary entries about my time out there. Hand in hand with rekindling this passion for casting, I was starting to date someone new, who also loved fly fishing. It turned out to be a classic situationship (one person is invested, the other is not) and she ended it before summer was over. But I am grateful for the months of romance I got to experience, on and off the water. I hope to publish all of the diaries in a small book, but I will also post some of the writing here for my invested subscribers.

So please, enjoy the occasional River Diary from summer 2023. They are writings on nature, romance, the queer experience, and trout. What more could you ask for in a Tuesday morning?