Walter Mitty motivates Alaskan dropped in Missouri

The other day we saw the newest film rendition of the “Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”  I believe I had

read the story many years ago, but had forgotten the details of Thurber’s plot.  Commonsense told me that the current version was not true to the finer points, however.  It did not matter to me, or any of the members of my family who saw it with me. 

The critics were fairly ambivalent about the movie – not a big surprise to me as I imagine them sitting in some brownstone or high-rise office building in Chicago or New York not being able to relate in the least to Walter’s quest for adventure.  I imagine them thinking, “I could not care less about adding adventure to my life and I do not appreciate the implication that my nine to five existence leaves me wanting.  I am comfortable and do not want to be cold, tired, scared, or uncertain about life.”  The critics covered their less than enthusiastic reviews with excuses, in my mind completely off base, such as lack of character development.

 

There really is no part of me that wants anyone to feel lacking if they do not have that desire for adventure.  I have certainly experienced far less of it as my life has settled into a more mundane reality,

but I still relish knowing people whose lives are full of it, and experiencing it vicariously through movies and books.  There is a reminder in each of these vicarious experiences, that at least for me, there is still a need for adventure, albeit at a scaled down level.  It causes me to dream, and occasionally plan adventures that at age 50 I can still experience with a fairly high likelihood of surviving.  These are the things that keep my mind alive, and truthfully are solely responsible for me not lapsing into a physical state of morbid obesity.

Viewers of “Walter Mitty,” at least those who watched it with an open mind, likely reacted to the film in a multitude of ways.  There are those who likely see themselves as Water Mitty’s – never having experienced any kind of adventure…those who have never been anywhere interesting.  I am blessed that I have had at least the experience of adventure and grew up in an interesting place – Alaska.

So, for me, the challenge perceived was that now that I live in Missouri and work in a suburban school district and am at least relatively comfortable, do I just look back and hobble into old age telling stories from many years ago?  Or, do I endeavor to add to the adventures I have been blessed to experience. 

I do not anticipate riding out storms as a deckhand on a fishing boat off Cape Fairweather,

working for a crazy skipper, or working at a remote site for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game building salmon weirs and trying to keep bears away long enough to count the salmon trying to migrate upstream to spawn.  My adventures must fit into some realities of family responsibilities and physical limitations. 

I am lucky to have a family that enjoys seeking out some of these adventures at least on a limited scale.  We have camped for the better part of a summer in the West – even staying in a firetower for a week atop one of the higher peaks in the Cabinet Mountains of Northwest Montana.   We have canoed and kayaked whitewater streams all over the country.  Even Laura, my wife who was not naturally endowed with the inclination to live on the edge, has experienced many of these adventures with my two sons and I (as well as various dogs), and is likely better off for having done so.  I know our family

is better off for us having done these things together.

So for me, looking back is a treasure, but also a reminder to look forward to seek further but appropriate adventures.  Implied in adventure is challenge, and for me the challenge is to push myself physically to be in condition to go on these future adventures. This is not a roundabout way of bringing up a New Year’s Resolution – I do not do them.  But I am going to be in better shape this year through

diet and exercise. 

I hope that you see the movie, and enjoy it.  I hope that it inspires some sense of adventure in you, if even to enjoy the adventures of others.  It is sort of cliché to suggest that one not live life such that they will regret adventures missed.  But clichés are so for a reason.  

Runge to host renowned artist and world angler Bob White

Image via Wikipedia

Join global fly fisher, artist, columnist and fly-fishing guide at MDC Nature Center in Jeff City Oct. 15

JEFFERSON CITY Mo – The Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Runge Nature Center, in partnership with the Capital City Fly Fishers, will host “A Fascination with Fly Fishing” featuring Bob White on Saturday, Oct. 15, from 9 a.m. to noon.  The global fly fisher, artist, columnist and fly-fishing guide will share his adventures and experiences fly fishing around the world, including in New Zealand, Seychelles Islands, Australia, Alaska and the Midwest.

White was inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Artist in 2009. He was Fly Rod & Reel magazine’s Guide of the Year in 1988. As the 1994 Artist of the Year for the Alaska State Parks Foundation, he produced and donated artwork for the first Alaska State Parks Foundation print. His work has been presented twice in Fly Rod & Reel’s gallery. White has been featured as a guide and artist on ESPN’s Fly Fishing the World and Fly Fishing America. He currently illustrates the closing columns for Fly Rod & Reel, Ducks Unlimited magazine, Gun Dogmagazine and Hatches magazine. He is a columnist for Midwest Fly Fishing and regularly contributes to many other sporting publications.

For more information on this free community program, call 573-526-5544 or emailkathy.cavender@mdc.mo.gov.

Runge Nature Center is located at 330 Commerce Drive (Rte 179) in Jefferson City. For more information on Runge, visit MDC online at mdc.mo.gov.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reopens comment period on proposed critical habitat designation for endangered Tumbling Creek Cavensail; invites comment on draft economic analysis

Image via WikipediaThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reopened the public comment period on its June 2010 proposal to designate 25 acres as critical habitat in Taney County, Missouri, for the endangered Tumbling Creek cavesnail. The Service also made available a draft economic analysis that examines the potential economic impact of designating critical habitat for the species. Comments on the proposed designation and the draft economic analysis will be accepted through February 11, 2011.

A Cold Missouri Day

Image by mbgrigby via FlickrIt is cold today and getting colder as the sun goes down.  It's not cold by the standards of Alaska from where I came.  But it's the kind of cold that brings the true meaning of winterfresh flavor deep into my lungs and makes me feel younger than however old I am.  I cannot imagine ever feeling old on a Winter day.  I do know not everyone feels the way I do, and I also know I may not feel this way in a few more years.

I hiked through the woods with my son that still is at home and we jumped one of the increasingly rare grouse in the area.  Our dog who is getting old like me ran as though she were still a skinny pup.  After our half hour hike we spread some birdseed on the ground and refilled the feeders and came in.

I just got in from my second outdoor foray.  I was making certain our cars would start and getting a bit of firewood for the night.  I told myself when I was done I would stand on the lower deck and listen to the wind and enjoy a moment before coming in for the night.  As I stood there the thought crossed my mind that I was born at the wrong time.  After this thought crossed my mind I reminded myself that this was awfully easy to say when my back faced a warm house.  At least in this country, we do not face the risks as part of our daily existence that would qualify me to know if I would have been tough enough to thrive one hundred years ago.

Montauk Trout Park Fly Fishing

I sure don't want to present myself as the expert on this area. I have been to this park probably five or six times. Of the parks, I do enjoy it the most, especially when I can get there on a weekday. A week or so ago, I fished it with my younger son, he concentrating on the bait area while I stayed exclusively in the "fly area."

I put fly area in quotes, because if you are not familiar with the park, spin fishing is also allowed here, but there are restrictions regarding terminal tackle allowed. Generally speaking, there is no negative interaction between spin and fly fishermen here as I have heard there can be in some places. Some of the spin fishermen here have shared pointers with me that even though I am using a fly rod, I have found very helpful. The caveat I will throw in is that there seems to often be a lack of stream etiquette in the parks.

This lack of etiquette seems to be equally displayed by spin and fly fishermen. I do not have a confrontational personality, so when someone comes thrashing through the stream right by where I am fishing, or casts directly into the area where I am drifting my flies, I usually just move on. I always hope they get the idea, but doubt they do.

More often, folks are polite and stay an acceptable distance, and sometimes pleasant conversations ensue. Last time I met a couple of retired gentlemen from Illinois. One of them had grown children who lived in Alaska and Colorado - both places where I have lived. We shared stories of streams, lakes, and ocean areas where we had both fished. He was spin fishing, but was also a fly fisherman and shared some advice on what to try. Because I didn't know the flies he was talking about I nodded like I did, but remembered the names so I could learn about them later. I wasn't having much luck (it was slow for everyone) and when I told him I wasn't sure I was gonna catch anything, he said "sure you will."

We parted ways and a bit later I took a break. I went back to my truck, rested awhile and re-hydrated. I then tied some new tippet and headed back out. I got to my favorite hole and started cycling through the options I have had luck with in the past. This time I used a strike indicator, which normally I avoid. First I went through my offerings at a depth where I was just ticking the bottom. Then I shortened up to a depth of about 24". When I tried this with an orange and red glo-ball I started getting meager taps. Ten minutes of this later, the fish for reasons inexplicable to me began inhaling my offering.

Some trips at this park I have limited in a very short time (4 fish). Other times I have had to work at it a bit. I enjoy the latter more. My thought on being successful in the fly area is to find and area that I know or can see (depends on clarity of water) and keep trying things until I find what is working. In these parks, I am convinced that generally, fish in a given area are just waiting for the right offering at the right time. It really is like a switch gets turned on and then off.

For information on the park, visit their official site at Montauk State Park Official Site. For more information on trout fishing in Missouri, including trout parks, visit Missouri Trout Fishing.