Walking in the shadows of the great volcanic peaks surrounding the ancient city of Antigua, Guatemala, I stopped to pick a ripe coffee berry. That berry was one of a cluster on a coffee tree, which was one of many on the grounds of a great plantation. Some of the varieties of beans and the …
I’m moving. That means getting rid of stuff. It is a very liberating process. Have we touched that fondue pot any time in the last ten years? No. Is the decorative pewter rabbit dish really “our style?” Nope. Do we need all those fly rods? Yes. Yes, we do. There are a handful of things …
I woke up that morning in the apartment that my wife and I rented in downtown Florence. The noises of the nuns bustling about in the courtyard below were the first reminders that I wasn’t home. After getting everything prepped – train tickets, extra pants and socks, a wad of Euros to pay and tip …
I’m always fascinated by the dynamic of same/different on the stream. One example is how I can be on a mountain trout stream anywhere in Appalachia, and there is going to be some geological similarities. But if my eyes wander up the banks, the foliage will be completely different north and south. Another is a …
The Galleria dell’Accademia. The Ponte Vecchio. The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. For the past few days, I’d been standing in these places absorbing the immensity of their historical and cultural significance. Statues, paintings, and facades that I’d been seeing my whole life were now right in front of me. There were moments that …
“Oh, yes. There are lots of fish in this river.” I was skeptical. “But are they wild fish?” “Oh, yes. They will fight real nice for you.” Wild might not have been translating the way I wanted it to. “Are these the kinds of fish that are from your country? Or have they been put …
Today I’ve kind of / sort of taken a day off here at Casting Across. However, I do have an article up over at Trout Life’s blog. You can find it here. If you head over to check out the piece and the blog, definitely take a minute to browse through the store on Trout …
Mile 0 This afternoon I’ll be making the same drive I’ve been making for over six years. Down the east coast, from New England to Northern Virginia. It is the same drive in that the point of departure and the destination don’t change. However, there are virtually an infinite amount of ways to make the …
I grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago. Fishing consisted of bait under a bobber for whatever happened to be nearby. I can’t remember a point in my childhood where I became aware of fly fishing. There really wasn’t any reason for me to. No fisheries capable of sustaining trout longer than the cooler …
