NaMaSoEvDaOfNo once again.

Another year of trying to wake this mostly dormant blog durring my fit of National Make Something Every Day Of November challenge.

I had the last evening of my fly tying class tonight.  This summer I took up fly fishing and I have really been enjoying it.  It has taken me some time to figure out what is so contradictary about it, in a way that I love, but still contradictory.  As I mull it over it is very similar to how I think of the Japanese Tea Ceremony.  Or at least the little understanding I have living in this midwestern japophile culture that is otherwise known as Mingeisota.  With fly fishing there is an obsessive love of the simplicity of the task.  The romantic idea of standing in a pristine mountain stream with a box of lures the size of a cigarette box, a rod and maybe a net is the pinacle of simplicity, connectedness, engagement with the activity and natural world around you.  Contrast that with the obsession of objects and the staggering amount people will spend to get the authentically simple experience and you have a sense of the similarities with fly fishing and the tea ceremony.

You can get started fly fishing for minimal amount of money, but the expense curve is steep in this sport.  You quickly go from $100+ to $1000+ and then think longingly of the next $400 thing that will help make the experience better.  I am still way down on the front end of that expense curve, but enjoying learning the differences between an entry level tool and one that really makes a nice difference in the experience.

One aspect that I am particularly enjoying about learning fly tying is the atomic nature of it.  I have rebuilt my house from the inside out.  Moved stairwells, reframed the roof, done fine woodworking and finishing of trim, and frankly am a little burned out on it.  For a large part because nothing is a simple project.  I love the finished product, but the reality of having little kids in the house is that I cannot leave my sliding compound miter saw out in the living room for very long.  And bedtime is absolute.  So the idea of starting a fly, finishing it 5-25 minutes later, admiring it, and moving on is very satisfying to me right now.