Esopus on Thanksgiving

 Esopus River, at Thanksgiving.

Swinging a Grey Ghost, off a Palakona & a Hardy Princess  reel (both long gone now...)

And then, spotting my pal from up the bridge for that big trout feeding just downstream from the pillar.

What a cold week it has been. 

Drove my 94 Sahara from Oark Park, IL to Woodstock, NY in freezing temps. 

As I was crossing Pennsylvania, late at night, I had to stop,look for my neoprene gaters and use them to close the gap in my plastic door. It was so cold that the heating system didn't stand a chance. 

The ri er was beautiful, like rivers always are on those cold days. Frosty banks, clear water, snow up on the mountains and the impression of living in a Gray's Sporting Journal article. 

Things were easier back then and, perhaps, we ( I) didn't value this enough. 

A flexible schedule, easy travel, crap load of credit, ridiculously low interest rates on credit cards, good salary and even better commissions and "favors". 

The day I will have to draw a balance of my life I might come up with something like "I fucked it up not once, twice but I did have fun and really worked on that first bucket list."