midsummer update

well folks, it's been over a month since i last posted. it's officially the hottest summer since i've been here, and it really shows no sign of letting up. i'm looking out at a the valley through a forest fire haze, with smoke drifting in from the rifle fire and points farther west. it is scorching, it is dry, and it's been very hard on our beloved yampa river.

but i'm still fishing - in the mornings when it's cooler - and dad and mom are in town through the month. just yesterday dad and i caught a couple nice ones apiece, and he landed the fish of the day - a beautifully spotted, football sized brown trout that went 18 inches or so. he played him perfectly, we got him in and got the hook out quickly, snapped a pic, and revived him in time for him to swim off after being spooked by a bunch of tubers.

damn tubers.

anyway, here are some bullets for those of you still checking in from time to time:

• my foot hurts! often. haven't hiked as much this summer as i'd like; think i pulled something that just won't heal.
• my sister-in-law is moving to salt lake city. in her late twenties, she wants to go back to school for a masters but she's just not sure what for. salt lake will be a cheaper place for her to figure that out. she has friends there, and (perhaps most importantly) will be under 45 minutes away from world-class skiing. we're moving her this coming weekend.
• dad is fully retired and no longer working on the textbooks. i'm proud of him - now he can fish and goof off as much as he wants!
• jenn just completed another art in the park. it's a heck of an event that she pulls together with patience and endurance, and i'm proud of her. she took today off to relax and go up to steamboat lake with my mom and the dogs.
• helped our lander friends move into their new house a few weeks ago; dug their little town, and met some great people, too; got to fish the middle fork of this river, a mere 5 minutes from their front door; bought this beautiful photograph that is now on our fireplace mantle.
• pooper scooped for the public library's book cart drill team again this year, making the parade route an acceptably sanitary place to do book cart maneuvers for all involved. check out fellow library geeks from des plaines for an idea of how dorky this stuff can get.

that's it folks. well, most of it. i'll try and post a little sooner next time.