Stories

We had arrived at the gravel bar but Ralph was nowhere to be found. We went to the low water slab that crossed Huzzah Creek, stuck our heads over the side and hollered ”Ralph are you down there?” It took … Read More

We were in Colorado’s Flat. Top Mountains when a large flock of sheep stopped us in the middle of the dusty road back to Oak Creek. Billy and I had spent the afternoon trying to catch a brook trout in the … Read More

The light had finally dimmed as Jan and I stared at the telephone sitting on the end table. I was preparing to tell Michael that I couldn’t go out on the road anymore. I wasn’t quitting the band but I just … Read More

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much. Those words hang above the wall that separates the living room from the dining room in the house where I was raised. They were put there by the family that bought the house when my … Read More

The morning breeze was warm and full of promise as our guide pulled a fly out of my fly box. He smiled at me and said in his jubilant Yucatan drawl “This is good fly” he laughed. “Good for nothing.” That … Read More

“If you have any hope at all of having grandchildren you WILL NOT buy me anything tied-dyed.” That was my son Marc’s response when Jan called from the souvenir booth to see if she could get anything for the boys. I … Read More

Maybe it’s the water. Perhaps it’s the wine. Either way I have seen that smile for over 40 years. Jan’s water smile. The first time was at Lake of the Ozarks with her parents. Since then I’ve seen it in Florida. … Read More

We have all had it happen. That song you can’t get out of your head no matter how hard you try. It just goes on and on. For me this summer it’s been Little Feat’s“Dixie Chicken”. “If you’ll be my Dixie chicken … Read More

It’s a fact of life.  Great times often don’t start so well. Like the story of my summer. It started off ok. Some time on the river with my fly rod, cleaning up the woods after my son’s wedding.  Preparing for Jan’s … Read More

It was a late afternoon in a favorite parking lot on Current River when I ran into Mark Wagner, one of my fly fishing companions. We exchanged the usual kind of river information when Mark said he wasn’t really there to … Read More