“STep forward while the light and shadows are still clear,
tHe sun, low over the water and still steady.
Enter the moment you seem to be living in.”
Carl Dennis
The full-moon was still a couple of days away, and a steady 2- to 3-foot sea rolled over an empty point. I’m drawn to this long stretch of surf, sand, glacial debris and wind whenever cracks appear in my world.
I’d lost two friends this fall, and my earliest fishing mentor passed the previous year. I started to wonder whether this was just some rough water or if the pattern was indicative of my future. One hour earlier, I was sitting on the tailgate of my car and had put on my waders. I also had my headlamp wrapped around my neck. The idea was to sit on a log and reflect on the recent death of friends. Maybe I can make sense out of this. Consider it, reflect on it. Take notes.
I hiked more than one mile before I reached a rocky area where I fish often. I leaned on a boulder to watch the surf breaking across a bowl. A large glacial erratic, named after a missing friend, was to my right. To me, it will always be Tim’s Rock. After I retired, I pictured the two us often fishing together. Now, casting from this perch I tried to pull…
