Finally a few fish

It is Friday and the day started well with a half hour of fishing the Big Thompson, a very tempting stream. I got two hits on a Royal Wulff and had to stop when my right knee started hurting. I have to be very careful not to reinjure it. I am signed up for a kayak trip tomorrow and then I start home. I should get back by the following weekend and that feels like a good idea. Yesterday I entered Rocky Mountain National Park from the western entrance and at first I was not impressed. The first 15 miles were not very interesting but once you got into the middle of the park, it was quite grand, not as spectacular as the Canadian Rockies but very impressive. Later I fished a tiny stream above 10,000 feet on Old River Road, a winding dirt road that ended up at the Alpine visitor’s center. I later fished a lovely stretch of water at the start of the road, but the water was pretty fast and it was tough to fish. I did get 25 minutes of biking in along with almost an hour of riding earlier in the day. I am back to doing yoga and working out with a ten pound weight I bought. My upper muscle tone has really declined but three days of working out has already helped. I have done a good bit of evaluating where I am in life right now and I think I am in a decent place. I am a good friend to Kelly, Rob, Claire, Gyorgyi and Cathy and the girls. I am still teaching okay although my memory is not what it was. However I worked hard on the Lumosity training and have raised my scores to the highest level I have ever achieved. I have set some new top fives so I guess my mind is still okay. I am still writing some and my commentary on Ferguson, Missouri and my radio essay on babysitting were decent pieces. I am still in touch with Gloria, although I haven’t heard from Dolores and don’t expect to. My health is pretty good and I exercise quite a bit so I think I can put off the knee surgery for a few years. I still love living in my hollow and I think if my health remains good I can stay at least till seventy. I have mixed feelings about serious relationships. I cancelled Match because I wasn’t even checking it but there are moments where I feel too isolated and lonely, not too often but enough to bother me at points. This has been a very expensive year for me but I don’t expect my spending to continue at such a rate. I still have a chance of retiring after 5 semesters but it looks like it will probably be 6. I still get angry too easily and I have to constantly control that. Fortunately, that anger usually doesn’t affect my relationships but it is a trait I wish I didn’t have. I finally got a chance to fish some perfect water, a long pool on the Poudre, and had a ball, catching and releasing 4 trout and bringing up a few more on Royal Wulffs.