Moments in Time

Reflections On Growing Up A White, Middle Class Baby Boomer

2014-09-12T13:18:00.001-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. This past year has been one of distraction. Some good, some life altering. Maybe I'll go into that in another post later on, but for now, I hope you enjoy these ramblings.

Reflections On Growing Up A White, Middle Class Baby Boomer

I couldn’t sleep last night.

I kept thinking about a conversation I had with a friend, who is my age. We talked about how we grew up in, what arguably, was the best time in history to pass from childhood to young adult.

World War II was over and the economy was strong. The atom had been harnessed, and technology was just learning to crawl. We witnessed so many developments that today we take for granted. In the 50’s we were the first to hear recorded stereo music, the first to see TV in color and most important to my early development, rock and roll was born.

As I lay in bed trying to sleep, images and sounds ran through my head, like watching people dance in strobe light. Stuttering fragments of memories would shift in and out of time. One split second I saw our first stereo, a giant thing more furniture than record player. I remembered seeing Elvis and The Beatles in black and white on the Ed Sullivan Show. Memories of Sunday dinners at my Aunt Elizabeth’s house and my Uncle Jim falling asleep in his favorite chair while watching football after dinner

It was the music, however, that was the root and driving force of that great time in history. I remembered listening to Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Hank Williams, Brenda Lee and Johnny Cash on the juke box in my Uncle Pete’s bar. Then there was Rock and Roll. An amalgamated bastard, born of blues, country music, jazz, and rhythm and blues, that would change the world forever.

There was Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly playing the first Stratocaster I’d ever seen, the Big Bopper, Jerry Lee Lewis pounding out mayhem on a grand piano, and James Brown dancing up a tumultuous sweat as if possessed by the devil and of course the King. Elvis was in the building.

My mind wandered again to a great paradox of human existence, that great talent was so often coupled with great despair and tragedy. I thought of how so many were so gifted with great talent and at the same time cursed with personal dysfunction and depression. Drugs, alcohol, and domestic abuse were often the price paid for being on the cutting edge of musical history. Some did not survive.

Then there were the vultures of the infant industry who exploited the essence of creative thought and process with no regard for those whose talent padded their pockets. One sided contracts paid little or nothing for the blood and spirit that changed the course of music. Bastards of profound proportion.

I was swept again to thoughts of my father and his musical tastes. Dad liked The Mills Brothers, whose melodies and harmony was genius. He liked the horns of Al Hirt, Herb Alpert, and the raspy vocals of Louis Armstrong and the soulful sound of Ella Fitzgerald. His favorites though were the crooners, Pat Boone, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Dean Martin and Bing Crosby. He didn’t hate the new sounds of rock and roll, it just wasn’t his thing.

The 50’s was a time of innocence and gradual progression to the future. It wasn’t all milk and cookies. There were demons. Segregation and racism were quietly endured by the black community and virtually ignored by most northern whites, even those who felt sympathetic to the plight.

In the next chapter of this story I’ll go into the 60’s. I’ll reflect on race relations, assassinations, war, the hippie movement, and the political upheaval that would tear the fabric of innocence and how music was instrumental in changing attitudes and influencing society.

Kitty is a Saint's Fan

2012-01-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

Don't hate me for posting a Stupid Pet Tricks video. My cat Graygray loves to watch football on TV. I noticed she appeared to favor the Saints over the Niners during the playoff game this weekend.
Sorry the quality isn't the greatest. I just grabbed my Pentax P&S camera for the video, since it was within reach.
Stupid cat, Niners Rock.

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week

2012-01-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

Denver Fly Fishing Show

2012-01-08T08:07:00.003-07:00

Didn't make it out to take advantage of the beautiful weather and fish last Thursday (house chores took priority), but I did make it to the Denver Fly Fishing Show at the Merchandise Mart on Saturday.

If you've never been, you are missing out on a great opportunity to see, hear and question some of the best fly tying experts, and authors, in the Country, as well as peruse, sample and purchase the latest and greatest fly fishing equipment available. There were also films and classes with experts for beginners, as well as advanced fliers.

This year a group of fly chuckers from the Colorado Mt. Fishing forum coordinated to meet at the show on Saturday. It was great to meet up with old friends and put a face to the names of those who I had never met. A great group of people hang out on that forum.
The highlight of the show for me this year was a short seminar by Gary Borger. Gary has been a fixture of the fly fishing elite for some 50 odd years. He has authored a number of must have books, including "Presentation" and "Fishing the Film". His background in fly fishing is eclipsed only by his ability to communicate to both advanced and beginner fly fisherman the intricacy of the life cycle of bugs and trout behavior. And he does it with a humorous and animated exuberance. Never miss a rare opportunity to hear Gary when you have the chance.

For the stillwater enthusiast, it doesn't get any better than a Scadden boat or toon. They are the top of the line.

Dave Whitlock explains one of his streamers.

Some of the finest fly tying people in the Country lined the walls and tied and shared there skills with anyone who cared to stop, look and ask question. The cream of the crop were Featured Tyers. A special area was set aside for these Featured Tyers to accommodate the crowds of eager fishermen who wanted to learn the particulars of their fish candy creations.

I'm not a big gear head when it comes to fishing. My personal belief is that if it works don't fix it and if you can make do with a piece of equipment that doesn't cost the same as a good used car, by all means do it, but it would be remiss of me to not include this warning. CAUTION: If you get a chance to cast the Sage ONE rod, don't do it!!!! You will be wanting to sell a kid or a kidney for one of these amazing rods.
When I first picked up the rod I was impressed with how light it was. When I gave it a flick of the tip it resisted almost all movement. It just kinda went "blip", one flex of the tip and an abrupt stop. I told the rep, (Matt from Rigs fly shop in Ridgeway, nice kid), "This thing is stiff as a brick." He said, "I'll string it up and let you cast it." Big mistake. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get the money for a thing I swore I'd never spend that much cash on. Come on, really? Buy a $700 + fly rod? Short answer, "YUP!"
The ONE is the lightest, most responsive , effortless and accurate rod I've ever casted. You make a shorter stop on your back cast than you would with a rod that takes longer to load than the ONE, and when you bring the rod forward it just follows the direction your hand is pointing and takes an incredible amount of line with it. With just a short single haul this thing will send your fly into the next county and set it down like a down feather.

Casting the Sage ONE

I ask Matt if he takes used cars in trade for the ONE

Happy New Year

2012-01-04T18:34:00.002-07:00

First off I’d like to wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year. May 2012 bring you great happiness and excellent photo opportunities and many days on the water stalking your favorite species of fish.

Sorry for the long silence here at Moments in Time. With the onset of winter, my time on the water has been taking a back seat to an active pursuit of music. (I hate freezing guides too) We had a great show New Year’s Eve.

This weekend the International Sportsman Expo and Denver Fly Fishing show are in town. I’ll be attending the Fly Fishing Show on Saturday. A must see seminar will be “Fishing the Film” by Gary Borger.

Tomorrow the temps up here are expected to top 50 degrees, so my immediate goal is to get out and wet a line. This may be the last chance for a couple of months to take advantage of my 50 or forget it rule of winter fishing. Did I mention I hate frozen guides?

Anyway, I hope to have a report on tomorrows fishing and a synopsis of the Denver Fly Fishing Show up soon. I’d love to here your thoughts on the show as well.

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week

2011-10-12T07:59:00.000-06:00

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week: You can click on the pictures for a larger view. Click it again for a really big view . One more Mt Lion shot and a black and white macro shot of a blue flax blossom

Rockin in the Rockies

2011-10-10T06:24:00.000-06:00

Got out to see a friend's band play at one of the local watering holes last Friday night. Sleepy Dave played at Silver Tongued Devil, in Green Mt. Falls debuting his new Marshall West Band. The bar recently did a major renovation to the stage area, adding sound dampening panels to the ceiling, a new house PA system and some nice LED stage lighting.
It's been a long time since I photographed live bands and this was my first time doing it with a quality digital camera (Nikon D7000). Digital is great. You get to dial in the exposure by previewing sample shots instead of depending on luck and prior experience then waiting to see what the film looks like when it comes back from the lab. Man I wish they had these things 30 years ago.

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week

2011-09-22T09:37:00.000-06:00

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week: You can click on the pictures for a larger view. Click it again for a really big view . Mt. Lion Mam...

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week

2011-09-16T07:26:00.000-06:00

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week: You can click on the pictures for a larger view. Click it again for a really big view . Antelope Canyon...

Deer vs. Kitten Face Off Part Deux

2011-08-31T11:17:00.000-06:00

So Little Gray has been polishing her stalking skills on the hordes of grasshoppers in the yard, and decided she is ready to tackle

bigger prey. First rule of a good stalk is, of course, "Stealth".

Rule number two, "Gain and hold the high ground."

Rule number three, "Intimidate your prey with the 'Stare of Death'".

Gotta work on that "Stare of Death" thing.

Oh well, that was an epic fail. Back to grasshoppers.

Summer's Hummers

2011-08-22T09:33:00.000-06:00

One of the most uplifting sights to see as winter slowly releases it's cold, hard grip on the high country is the arrival of the seasons first Hummingbirds. By contrast, when the little speedsters leave for warmer climates, a sense of the impending return of snow and cold fills me with reflection of what was accomplished during the short summer months and I start to make a mental list of what will be my goals for next summer.
This week I noticed the departure of the Rufous Hummers. These little demons of the Hummingbird clans is a ferocious defender of feeders and territory when they are here. They are the last to arrive and the first to leave every year. I didn't get any photos of the Rufus this year. Just another thing on the list for next year.

Soon the Broadtails will be gone too. I'll miss the little sparkling streaks of color and their signature tweeting flights.

"Dawn Cracked Hard, Like A Pool Cue," Tom Waites

2011-08-20T08:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my fishing buddy Eric called @ 5 am. “I’m headed up the pass if you still want to go fishing today.”

The night before I had a long jam session with some friends at a local venue and tossed back a few beers after the jam at the T-Bird bar in Florissant. ” Dazed from being shaken awake by the ringing phone, I replied in something resembling English, “I’ll be ready.”

Eric pulled into the driveway and knocked on the door. “Can I use your bathroom? I just had a bear stand up and look in my passenger window when I slowed down to go over that speed bump around the corner.”

While Eric took care of business I loaded my gear in the back of his truck and soon we were on our way, destination yet to be determined. “I heard the Tricos are heavy on the Dream Stream,” he said.

“OK, sounds good.”

After some small talk about 3wts and numbers fishing on small water, with big dry flies, we changed our minds and decided to hit Alma Wildlife Area and Tomahawk Wildlife Area to chase brookies, browns and rainbows.

Climbing Wilkerson Pass we stopped to try and get some photos of two of the biggest bull elk I’ve ever seen. Still in velvet these two bruisers were a beautiful sight to see in the faint light of dawn. As we got out of the truck and crossed the road the two looked at us and casually trotted away toward the tree line, heads back, antlers nearly scratching their rumps.

On the drive between Hartsel and Fairplay we saw small patches of golden leaves on selective aspens that grow in the shady areas on hillsides.

“Fall is coming.”

“Yup, browns will be staging for the spawn soon.”

We arrived at AWA shortly after sunrise. The sky was overcast, but not threatening. A light breeze was blowing and the morning temps were in the low 40’s.

“Smells like Fall.”

We geared up and headed off toward the maze of beaver ponds and channels that broke up the thick patches of willows and sedge grass. I tied on a size 16 Elk Hair Caddis and Eric a size 14 rubber legged stimulator, a deadly pattern of his own design.

“RISES!!!”

Making our way through the willows, low and stealthy as possible we slogged through the boot sucking mud and got into position to make our first casts to rings of rippling water.

Eric, “Fish on.”

Me, “It’s gonna be a good day.”

After catching and releasing innumerable numbers of wild brookies and browns we loaded up again and headed for Tomahawk, with a short stop at the Brown Burro in Fairplay for a little lunch.

We drove to the lower parking lot and headed up river fishing every fishy run, riffle and pool. I got into lots of rainbows, Eric was hooking up with browns. We walked and fished up river about a mile taking fish after fish, again on caddis and stimulator patterns.

We called it a day around 4:30 and recounted the days catch as we walked back down river to the truck.

“I love pitching large dry flies to eager fish on an August day in Colorado.”

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week

2011-08-16T10:09:00.000-06:00

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week: "You can click on the pictures for a larger view. Click it again for a really big view . Great Blue Heron, Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refug..."

Deer vs. Kitten Face Off

2011-08-02T08:28:00.000-06:00

There is this nice buck that has been visiting the yard lately. He met the yard cats this morning, giving the kittens a little practice in stalking prey. Stupid cats.

Little Big Cat goes for position, while Little Gray ponders a frontal attack from the cover of a wild rose bush.

The End is Near

2011-07-15T11:53:00.001-06:00

This winter's record snow fall has resulted in an unusually long and high runoff even for some tail waters like the South Platte.. The South Platte is still experiencing extremely high flows, making fishing challenging for some and wading dangerous for all. The good news is the worst is over and flows are now past peak. Hopefully the high flows haven't been too much of an inconvenience. Good fishing everyone.
Here are some charts showing the stream flows over the year for various locations on the South Platte.The red line represents this year's flow the blue line represents historical flows.

South Platte above Spinney, above 11 Mile Res, near Lake George, below Cheesman Res.

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week

2011-07-14T07:39:00.000-06:00

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week: This week Moose in Velvet and Bristtlecone Pine and Rainbow "You can click on the pictures for a larger view. Click it again for a really big view . Bristlecone Pine and Rainbow ©2010-2011 Robert C..."

A Place of Ancient Men...and Monsters

2011-07-08T16:03:00.004-06:00

On the rim of Picket Wire Canyon with the Purgatory River below
(Click on any picture for a larger version)

I’ve always been kind of a natural history buff on a casual level. Old things just seem to exude a mystery that I can’t resist. When I come across places that have ancient sites I have to stop and imagine what was going on when these old things were new.

The history of native people and early American pioneers has held a particular fascination for me, so when I found out about an area in southeast Colorado that is awash in history of men and monsters I had to go and explore it.

The place is Picket Wire Canyon, and it’s located southeast of La Junta, Colorado. Here in the canyon of the Purgatory River ancient foot prints of dinosaurs, Native American rock art and archeological sites of early Spanish and American pioneers are scattered about waiting for the curious to find and explore them.


Stone rings can be found on some of the promontory rises		that overlook the river

Here in the canyon some of the earliest people to inhabit the area were called the Apishipa Focus people. They were a hunter/gatherer people who lived here from around 1200 A.D. – 1350 A.D. Very little is known about these ancient inhabitants but they left there mark on the land and rocks for eternity.

These Apishipa people were replaced by tribes of Plains Indians beginning with the Apache, then Comanche and Cheyenne. Evidence has been found of occasional raids by Kiowa, Arapaho, and Ute as well. All the tribes left there unique rock art to mark their presence.

During the period that the Plains Indians occupied the canyon, incursions by Spanish soldiers occurred. Artifacts, including armor, have been found in the side canyons and near the river

The road that follows the canyon up river was once a stage coach road. Passengers, passing cowboys and stage personal left their mark as well. From telegraph lines to stage stops and even carvings in the rock walls along the road there is testament to the passing of these early Americans.

The ruins of the Dolores Mission

Early Spanish American settlers started a small community called Dolores about half way up the canyon. Little is left now except for an adobe ruin of the Dolores Mission and the grave stones in the yard of the mission.

Undoubtedly the most intriguing and fascinating ancient wonder here are the long trackways left by Apatosaurus and Allosaurus on the muddy shores of an ancient shallow lake. There are over thirteen hundred visible dinosaur tracks that make up about one hundred different trackways on the banks of the river. Apatosauus (the dinosaur formally known as Brontosaurus) was a huge herbivore, while the three toed carnivorous Allosaurus was a cousin to the infamous T-Rex. These tracks seem to show a dance of life and death that was routine for these two characters during the Jurassic Period.

There are few places I know of where you can walk in the footsteps of so much natural history in such a relatively small area as Picket Wire Canyon. If you enjoy natural history and have an explorers streak, this is a place you can spend days on end discovering fantastic historical treasures.

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week

2011-07-06T11:52:00.000-06:00

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week

2011-06-28T07:38:00.000-06:00

First Hike to a High Lake this Season

2011-06-27T08:59:00.001-06:00

A couple friends and I hiked into a favorite high lake yesterday to fish and get the first high lake hike of the season under our belts. We accomplished the hike and wet some streamers, but the fishing ? not so much.

Winds were brutal and unrelenting, gusting to 35 mph at least. We got blown out and bagged it at around 10:30.

There was a lot of chop on the water and when we first arrived Kyle and Jon each thought they saw a fish. (fishful thinking?) There is very little ice left on the lakes and with the winds I'm sure the last of it will be gone by today. There is, however, very little shoreline accessible due to snow shelves down to and into the lake. We just missed seeing a large chunk of snow shelf (about 150 feet) sluff off and drop into the water. We did see the wave it created roll across the lake. This served as a good reminder not to walk out onto the snow shelf if you don't want to wind up cold and soaked or worse, dead.

Imagine your wading on the edge of that snow shelf when it collapsed. You'd be pinned from behind face down, unable to move or get up. Game over, you lose.

Temps were around high 60's but the wind chill was around mid to upper 30's and was enough to make your hands and face cold and your nose to run.

After about 15 minutes of fruitless streamer chucking and getting hit hard in the back of my head by a cone head woolly bugger (it didn't stick), I just put the rod down and moved around taking pictures.

Just as we finished breaking down and putting on our packs Jon saw a fish swimming off shore. Then as we got down around the lower lake the wind stopped dead. Total calm. Then a few small gusts. Then some breeze, not too bad. We thought about going back up but...nah. The winds did pick up again by the time we reached the parking lot, we ate some Sammies and hit the road.

Jon wanted me to shoot some pictures of him with his Deuter pack so he would have some shots for the blog he is writing for them. He is accumulating a massive bag of swag from these companies. More power to ya kid.

Jon modeling the Deuter Future Pro 42 red/gray/black backpack, shown here with optional fly fishing accoutrements.

Epic Caddis Hatch Prediction...

2011-06-23T14:45:00.002-06:00

Hasn't panned out yet. On June 11th I predicted an epic caddis hatch for the Charlie Meyers Wildlife Area. EPIC FAIL!!!!! I was just up there and didn't see anymore adult caddis than I did two weeks ago. Bummer. Maybe it's still to come, there are sure a lot of larva in the river. Hope so.
Seems like every time I go to the Charlie anymore they raise the flow as soon as I get there.

Meanwhile, the Platte above Spinney is running high and off color, basically a bust.

Morning In The Garden

2011-06-22T14:28:00.001-06:00

Woke up this morning with time to kill, since I have to wait for the plumber to get here to replace my dead water heater. But, as they say, that’s another story.

I walked around the front yard checking my various flower beds to see what’s blooming and budding and getting an idea of how much longer it will be before color starts to really take off and brighten up the yard.

Most of the flowers are another week or more away from blooming, but a few Columbines, Blue Flax and Lupine are blooming and last night the first of the Poppies bloomed. There was barely any wind this morning, which in and of itself is a rare blessing, and the light was pretty nice, so I got out the camera and went to town on the new born poppies.

Before bursting into a giant flame orange blossom poppies start out as a bug eye looking furry bud.

And then BAM, blossoms of fire.

The rest of the garden is off to a slow colorful start. This small bed under the little Aspen tree is always the first to start showing signs of spring color. Soon the Penstemon will be blooming with their long stems of pink trumpet like blooms.

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week

2011-06-20T10:41:00.000-06:00

Fished a very special secret spot yesterday

2011-06-19T06:40:00.001-06:00

Got a chance to fish a secret off limits to the public piece of water yesterday. These fish see very little pressure and will take almost anything that resembles a bug. I was tossing a hopper dropper rig all day, Amy's Ant #10 on top and a #12 ptail dropped. What a treat throwing something bigger than a #20 fly. Also threw big streamers and got into a bunch of fish on those.
Got more fish than I could count all in the 14-18" range.
I was eye balling this one fish that was about a 16"er who was eye balling my drift, when it suddenly took off like a shot away from my flies. Just then this giant head comes up and snatches my hopper. Holy shiite Batman that's a big fish. It was a beast of a brown that took off like a rocket when hooked and took me into my backing in about 2 seconds. I took off down river in hot pursuit and proceeded to trip and fall in the river. Kept the rod up and had pressure on the fish the whole time until he launched into a 4 foot horizontal leap and snapped my tippet. He was easily 24". Arrrrrrgghhh!!!!!

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week

2011-06-16T06:43:00.000-06:00

Moments in Time: Photos Of The Week: "Ice Off At Blue Lake, San Juan Mts., Colorado

American Avocets Mating Dance"