sawing blogs

so, after being thoroughly entertained by my friend's new blog for the past month, i thought it was time i throw my hat in with the ever growing blogger nation. of course, i'm nowhere near as funny as him. or well-spoken. but you should read my blog anyway, because i have chutzpah.

my wife and i just moved to steamboat springs, colorado. it is an interesting mountain town in colorado because it has a ranching heritage rather than a mining one. furthermore, whereas some colorado mountain towns have spent time as ghost towns before being rediscovered, steamboat has retained a healthy population throughout its history. and, most importantly, it has one hulking, mother of a ski mountain rising above it. and, holy crap, am i excited about this coming ski season.

my parents are in town visiting us for a couple of weeks. this morning, my father and i woke up early to get a couple hours of fly fishing in before i had to work at one. we walked out the door to find frost on the grass, the first time this fall. after loading gear and dogs into the back seat, we drove through town, up fish creek road, left on amethyst past the high school, and finally right on buffalo pass road. after three miles, we parked under gold and yellow aspens, shouldered our packs, and hiked about a mile down to soda creek.

it was the first time there for both of us, and we didn't know what to expect. we suited up, tied the dogs up, and started casting to pools. in a stream this small, brook trout are the only game in town. they don't get much longer than your hand, but they are feisty little suckers. i caught my first one after fifteen minutes, and it was the most beautiful fish i've ever seen. its entire underside was bright reddish orange, the color of the changing aspen leaves above me. i held him in my hand, eased out the hook, submerged him and held him while he readjusted, and watched him swim away under blue autumn skies.

it was a perfect start to a beautiful day. and i think i love this town.