Convalescence

UGH..

What a bug...

Saturday during my gig I had a headache to end all headaches and didn't think much of it. I had been into the craft beer pretty heavy the night before and attributed it to that.

Sunday morning I get to go fishing with Morin and as the day progresses I get all achy and a terrible sore throat..

In the following 48 hrs the bottom falls out ..

I can't remember the last time I was this sick.

I ended up heading down to Emerge at 02:30..one night..can't even remember what night... only to have the doctor say...yep..nasty...but its a virus...go home get some rest and fight that little microscopic bitch!!

I would've rather broken my arm..

..and to top it all off Kim had planned her annual shopping trip to Chicago with the girls.

My wife almost never takes time for herself and I was not going to let her cancel her plans.

I am finally starting to feel better..but I may still stay home from work tomorrow..fuck it.

A 12 hr shift is a long time ..and with my luck I will walk right into a significant enforcement event...that would send me to the grave..
..leaning towards no ..

The kids were awesome...I think Owen might be Jesus...so selfless...its really kind of weird, but I love him for it.

Poor little Avery was sick as well...as a matter of fact I think she brought this shit home to begin with.

I had been looking forward to this weekend... I had all kinds of things that we could've done planned..but no..

:o/

..ah well... good old Netflix..

So I bought a Zoo is actually a pretty good movie...sigh..

Kim comes home late tonight..YA!!!  I SURVIVED!!!!

Avery and I made a few brief trips to the park to feed the geese and walk the beach at Mike Weir Park...the highlight of a miserable week.

DSCF1211 from Gene Norland on Vimeo.

Speaking of miserable....

Morin has been a miserable cur...his texts are very disturbing... I have been deleting them as fast as I can so I won't have to testify...LOL..

I posted the 'Apocalypse Now' scene because I have it in mind that I will be Sheen's character to Morins Brando..except he will have gone Native in his Michigan shack when I find him...

I feel bad for the guy...too much work and no play.. and so much sand in his vagina...

...Come to think of it.. I would like to kill him with a machette...'The Horror...The horror...'...lol

God willing I am going to give Sauble Falls a try this week...for old times sake, fresh air, and because I love banging my head against the Steelhead wall..lol

...or I may just sleep on the couch..

either way..things are looking up.

FUCK!

Meeting Kurtz (Apocalypse Now)

Joe Locke's Sticks & Strings - Appointment In Orvieto [2008]

I Feel Gross

Full blown head cold.

..and here I am with leave booked for today. Best laid plans and all that madness.

I worked yesterday. I had too. It was my Stat and I am unfortunately in the position where I can't turn up my nose at that kind of money ..even if the rivers have risen..

I was hoping that with Leave booked on the Thursday I would be able to snap up some riparian scraps so to speak but the river I wanted to fish had fallen below good.

I could've called in and switched my leave from personal to 'sick leave' and just stayed in bed but the river beckoned and I thought maybe the fresh air might actually help...and it really might have.

I did catch a few fish and that is really all I need.

It was a beautiful morning and it was also nice to be home earlier than normal. I think Avery and I will head over to the park in a bit.

I have a Union meeting tonight with our full membership. Being a member of the Executive means I should probably go but I may just stay home...Netfiix, Scotch and The Walking Dead. I kinda feel like a zombie myself.

Kim has her annual trip to Chicago this weekend and I will be home with the kids. I am hoping that I can shake this illness because I had been really looking forward to spending some time with just the kids and I.
I always try and plan something fun.

Twin Pines Apple Orchard is having a Christmas event this weekend and I hope that everybody is up for it.

That is always a fun place to visit and their cider is really great. I may have to pick up a few bottles.

I am about to turn the corner on some pretty busy scheduling and it could be it for fishing for a bit.

Glad I forced it today.

Lest We Forget

Well.. I forgot...

:o/

But that's what a hangover will do to you...

I just finished my annual Jazz Gig weekend and it actually went pretty good. The event we played at was a fundraiser for Lambton area people with disabilities and I was proud to be part of it really.

Big turnout and they made a lot of money...well done to all involved.

As part of the event there was a new craft beer pimping their product.
The Beer Co is called Bayside Brewery and they are located at Erieau here in Ontario. They are making two beers so far. A Lager and a Light Beer...
Both are fantastic!!!

Great discovery...they are opening a pub that way and they have suggested we get in touch with them about playing at the place.
I think that would be a hoot actually and I hope that Torrie follows through with the booking.

It was good to see Torrie again. He is living the life I thought I wanted for myself at one point. A full time musician in Toronto...sounds sexy and fun but the truth as usual has it not all it is cracked up to be and my heart goes out to him.
I have opted for stability with my life and as much as I bitch about my job it is almost impossible to get fired from and it affords me a pretty good lifestyle for my little brood....and I do play guitar still..

I hate that this show is right in the middle of the Steelhead run here in Ontario and I vowed that this would be my last year doing it..but already I am backpedaling on that...wait and see at least..

Well...I got in late from the gig Saturday night...hammered...and set my alarm for 04:30 so numbnuts and I could fish water that probably would be next to impossible...

Sigh... I was hurting...and still am..

The entire family is sick and after today my throat is getting a bit raw as well. I suppose it's my turn..Fall...pretty hard to avoid...
Can't understand it considering I take such good care of myself..LOL..

Anyway...the river gave up a few fish and I got to see the onset of addiction take hold.

Brians co worker hit the river with us with his brand new centrepin..and damned if he didn't get one...

Pretty cool moment...and I was glad I forced myself up this morning to be part of it.

Morin was a gentleman today and gave us both first water... and it bit him in the ass later on...and to his credit he took it well.



Fish and chips on the way home...

Goodness... all goodness...

Oh Ya..Now I remember...

Steelheading is a cold weather sport...

Well I was supposed to fish on Wednesday.

The water has been dropping very quickly and that might have made all the difference..

But,..today was alright ...and because I waited a day Brian and I got to fish together...which is always a hoot..
The conversation ranged from sexchange operations to people being shot with silencers...odd...

It is always fun to fish with Brian. He is not a fish hog or a yapper and he is used to me.

As in...he no longer would bat an eye if  I either punched somebody in the throat out there or had a nap in a snowbank...

The conditions were a bit tough today.

Iced guides early on...then clear water and sunshine...that coupled with the fact that we were fishing water that we were are still cutting our teeth on put us a little behind the eight ball so to speak ...it is a small blessing that we even caught anything...

But we did.... did quite alright in fact...

Heavily slanted in Morins favour this time around.

Well...that is usually the case to be honest ..but I was a little distracted today. Didn't have my best game on.

And my 'A' game is like most peoples 'H' game...today it was more like my 'L' game..or whatever...
Some days I just seem to lack that predatory edge that is needed to get er done..particularly with these type of conditions...
Whatever...

Pics were a little better today....I missed four strikes and landed one fish that was hideous...not one of my better days...but a good day none the less.

Nice quiet day and peaceful with almost no pressure.

The boys are back from their Deer hunt with a full bag of four Deer.

This is good news that I am sure I will benefit from. As it is I have some of last year chops de-thawing in the fridge for this weekend.
Gerry sounded like he had an awesome time and I am happy for him.

Now its time to shift gears and put on my music hat. I have a two day gig on Friday night and Saturday night.

Playing Jazz for people that would probably rather listen to Gangham style...sigh.

Hope it goes well.

Ella has been 'hounding' me for a dog that she wants us to adopt at the Humane Society. I am on board but it is proving to be a tough sell with the rest of the clan.
I am hoping we wear them down...
Here he is...

Some rain in the forecast but my schedule is not so good for the next little while...could be a tough go for the rest of the month.
Might take some desperate measures...but who is kiddin who... I'll get out.

..To the Left

Sunday...

You do what cha gotta do I guess but I was actually nervous about today's trip to the river.

I need good days in order to fortify me for the everyday bullshit that I have to wade through...I need it...and fishing really helps a lot.
I think that I define fishing a little differently than the gang of nitwits that pull out their dinks at the tackle store...or the online fishing forums...or whatever the venue..

I want fresh air.. solitude and a fair shot at some fish...just some...doesn't have to be a lot and that doesn't seem like a lot to ask...unless it's a weekend and the water is prime...LIKE TODAY..ugh..

Ya see I fucking hate people...generally speaking.

However I am willing to acknowledge that the occasional 'decent' person that appears out of the wood work  almost makes up for the douchebags..

Two key words there...occasional..as in VERY fucking occasional ..and almost...

Tactics...

First...get there early...I roll really early... I am fishing rod in hand at the waters edge waiting for the sun to come up enough to illuminate that red dot on the float.

Its amazing how little light it takes for that....I think they got the pink paint out of the Roswell crash..

.Martians are cool.

Second...draw deep from the well and stay away from the obvious...

Third.. take a deep breath and pray..

So instead of  trying to muscle my way into the great water I turned left...away from the hot spots and tried some water that I used to fish way back in the day..

Morin and I have named every run on that river...some are pretty funny and have some goofy stories attached to them..

I started my day at 'Genes Clay Bank' which is essentially the first turn.

This is a run that I was obsessed with for a long time..and it took a Morin esque kick in the snatch to get to me to snap out of it and move on...Hence the name.. more a labeling of a psychosis then me naming and claiming any particular section of that river..

It is a tough fish...pocket water right above nasty rapids and below some as well.
When you hook a decent fish it is an adventure because of the heavy flow and quite often you're forced to give chase along slippery boulders..fun fun fun..

After I wore out my welcome there I tried to locate 'Peach Bag Run'.

That was a challenge...there is no easy way in there and most of the telltale landmarks have been washed away...

But I found it...
It too is tough water to hold fish in...they just run and book...and these fish are TIGHT and just in.

Beautiful fish...just gorgeous!!

I found fish...lots of em...and found solitude...for the most part..

Couple of douchbags with not an ounce of etiquette tried to ruin my day. They followed me where ever I went it seemed...If only they could just stand on my shoulders... I am sure that is the secret...
It was weird...they'd chase me out of one spot then follow me on to the next..walking away from double digit water...useless cunts...but they sure looked the part...

By contrast I was approached by a new centre-pinner that  just politely asked me some questions about my success but then absolutely refused to fish the run I was in...even when I insisted...

He said  "No...that would be rude"...

Like I say..."Very Occasional"...but always a pleasant surprise.

I bumped into him on the hike out and the poor bastard was fishless...further proof that there is no god..

Great day...I got what I needed... the good Samaritan will have to find his own way...after all...am I my brothers keeper?..lol

Saw three foxes and two deer as well...good luck tomorrow Bambi.

:o/   

Lionel Loueke Trio

Bill Evans Portrait in Jazz (Full Album)

Scene: Coen Bros 'Burn after Reading': John Malkovich - 'You're part o...

Hmm Haaw...

Well it is Saturday..,

And this time of year has Saturdays full of Arena action.

Thank Christ Owen bowed out of Hockey but we still have the figure skating for Ella and Avery.

They really like it and I enjoy watching them even though I find the cement head arena crowd kind of depressing...
... there is a pose there that I can sense and it nauseates me.

The girls think its fun...what are going to do??.

I have been watching the graph.

It was on the drop but now has stalled. The radar shows slight streamers rolling in of Lake Huron.

There used to be a web cam up that way that I could use to my advantage as well but I can't find the link anymore.
I haven't tried very hard to be honest..

I want to fish...but weekends...ugh...ugh...

One of the main reasons I took my current job was to have time off during the week to fish. The crowds on the weekends not only make the fishing difficult...the risk is witnessing behavior that could render my trip to the woods 'worse than useless' ...can't have that.

The thing is...Tomorrow will be my last chance to get in there before the Deer Hunt...and I will not go in there during...nobody should..
I 've done it...but I should not have...

Not sure what the river will be like but I think I am going to drive up and do the old school thing where I actually get off my computer chair and look...lol.

I was putting some new line on reel today and it occurred to me that my good old Islander might be one of the coolest purchases that I have ever made.
Something that I don't really think about too much because it just does what it is designed to do ...very well...and defies me to break it...

Tougher than whale shit...

It will be cold and probably a frustrating waste of time but I am going tomorrow....good chance I just turn around a drive home ...but I am going.