Reflections

  ​ I’ll admit, when Thanksgiving is over, I somewhat dread Christmas music. “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and so many others are played in every restaurant, gas station, and waiting room to the point of overkill.  However, there are two pieces that speak to my heart. “O, Holy Night” and Handel’s “Messiah.” A time of Advent ushers into the heart of a believer, the incarnation of the Christ child.  Recently, a close friend sent me a text and said, “What are you doing tomorrow night? We’d like to give you and Elizabeth a Christmas gift.” They picked us up at 6:30 and took us to Centenary Methodist Church to hear the entire performance of Handel’s Messiah as performed by the Winston Salem Symphony.  Most people are familiar with Part 2, No. 39, The Hallelujah Chorus. As the violins welcome the chorus’ soprano, alto, tenor, and bass singing Hallelujah, they are echoing the scripture found in Revelation 19:6 “ Lord God Omnipotent re...

  I don’t really remember where the love for the field became the stream. As a child, I remember my brother subscribing to the magazine, Field & Stream. I fell in love with the notion of sitting in a cold duck blind either on upland waters or in a 6x8 box on stilts somewhere in the Core or Pamlico Sounds. When my son was too young to remember, I’d haul off to Hyde County which at the time was the eastern flyway mecca of waterfowl. We’d sleep in dives, get up at 4 am, wader up, and walk into impoundments of flooded corn aka cocaine for ducks. Unlike deer hunting, waterfowl hunting is a social sport. As my son, Lewis gained in years, his first love was deer hunting. He reached the local pinnacle of a nice 10-point buck at our family farm. However, as the taxing duties of climbing a deer stand, sitting on a cold seat, still and alone waned, Lewis was introduced to The Duck Commander where he learned the tricks of the duck call and later was led to &saving faith by Phil Roberts...

 Brook Trout. So often, when you go fishing, the subsequent two questions asked by friends are 1.) How many did you catch, 2.) how big were they. To be honest, I'm that guy. I love to land rainbows and browns in the net. I love it when they are 18 to 24 inches. I'll even call it a success when you get a 12-incher, especially in North Carolina. Last week, my son Lewis and I went to Helena, Montana to drift the Missouri from Craig, Montana to the Mid Canyon past the confluence of the Dearborn River. We landed a total of about 12 fish averaging 12-14 inches. Not an epic day, but was pure satisfaction. What I didn't know was the following days where going to be even a better experience with small fish. Let me explain. My close friend, Dan Pate, offered me his Polaris General side by side to go the a Diehl Ranch in Winston Montana. The ranch owner was gracious enough to give us access to a small creek coming out of the Elkhorn Mountain Range. This mountain range is southwestern ...

What a great way to spend post-thanksgiving! My son, Lewis and I took off to the mountains of North Carolina for a couple of days. We both had a small backpack, a flyrod and waders. Our goal was to find trout. We headed to the NC Trout capital, Bryson City, NC. Chasing the NC Wildlife map, we happened on Alarka Creek. Alarka is a hatchery-supported creek that begins in the Big Laurel area of the US Forest Service land and meanders it’s way thru rocky knolls, farms and woods finally ending at Fontana Lake. This classic NC mountain community is beautiful. We found a pull-off, wader-ed up and got right to “work” in the stream. Lewis quickly connected with a brown trout using an Elk haired caddis. The Elk Hair Caddis imitates an adult caddis fly or a small stonefly which is right down a trout’s alley! We fished a couple spots along the Alarka and then decided to go to the Deep Creek which flows through Bryson City.  Celebrated not only for its fishing, Deep Creek has several hiking l...

John Wayne's classic, “The Cowboys” is probably my favorite western movie. It’s a story of boys becoming men. I know I've watched it 40 times or more.    When his ranch workers desert Wil Anderson, a Belgrade, Montana rancher, to join the gold rush and the dreams of getting rich, he is forced to find recruits for his upcoming 400-mile long cattle drive to Belle Fourche, South Dakota. One of the coolest western actors that ever gleamed a Hollywood screen, Slim Pickens, who in the movie was Anse Peterson, suggested to Anderson at the saloon that he should consider the young kids that were at the local schoolhouse. He interviewed them, and with hesitation, hired them on to work his cattle-drive.   To keep from making the movie a spoiler, I'll stop there and only encourage you to watch this excellent movie. It is about growing up, fathering, and even when the going gets tough...completing the job!   So, when I first landed at the Bozeman Yellowstone airport a number of ...

 The amazing thing about Montana is the untouched, vast wilderness. Whether its the Bob Marshall Forest, Elkhorn Mountain Range, The Mission Mountains, or Glacier National Forest, the eye can see the big picture, but honestly there are square miles of property that few men if any have ever stepped. And the water melting from the Glacier topped mountain create streams and rivers so clear you can see the bottom of the entire river bed. And water that is so cold you will freeze to death if not careful. This country is wild and untamed. You can see it in the mountains as well as the people who live here. They understand dirt roads and snowdrifts. Its nothing for them to see elk, deer, bear, and even the occasional moose.  We ended our tour across Montana at Glacier today. It was somewhat crowded, but who wouldn't want to feel the magnificence and splendor of the Rocky Mountains? We drove back south thru Missoula County and cross the legendary Blackfoot. After driving the state, I ...

Today we traveled north toward Kalispell and Whitefish. Driving thru the Flathead  Indian  reservation we witnessed the incredible Mission Mountains with their high, jagged tops. Then looking up at McDonald Peak which touches the bonds of the atmosphere at 9,820 feet; all I could say was, “truly amazing! " I’ve spent a lot of time from Bozeman to Helena. I’d call it my "Montana base." It's where my friend and fellow auctioneer Dan Pat lives. We stayed the night in Missoula as a stopover. I was originally intrigued by Missoula years ago after reading the book and watching the movie, "A River Runs Through It." It's the story of author and fly fisherman, Norman  Maclean.  Maclean’s family move to this city in 1909. In 1931 Maclean married his sweetheart Jessie Burns who was from Wolf Creek Montana, a town I’ve driven thru many times on the way to Craig Montana. In the book and movie, Maclean’s character said, “I am haunted by water”. I once read a comment...