Uncategorized

I have fished with Rim Chung more weekends than not for the past twenty years and I a self-confessed student of his method, so you may find this article a bit biased towards his method.  For this method has been my only one for nearly that entire span of time, feeling it is the most effective manner of catching trout, salmon and grayling in streams.  Knowing that Rim has only fished one fly in about six sizes and six colors for the past thirty years, I asked him a question a couple of years ago, “If you only had one RS2s to choose from which would you choose?” He shot back, “The question should become on which river?  If it were for use on a freestone river, I would choose size 16.  Any color would do the job.  But for a tailwater, such as the Deckers area of the South Platte, you would have to have various sizes and colors.” Rim continued, “From nearly thirty years of fishing that river, you see, I have assembled a so-called hatch chart in my own mind.  From that length of experience, I can reasonably predict the predominantly available insect life for a particular time of year.  In the winter, my favorite for that river would be size 24 black.  I am sure that I can get by with that particular size and color all winter long, because of the predomination of small midges that time of season for that particular river.” I continued to push for a hint of limitations or at least where to start among the thirty six RS2s in his box, “Could you use that same fly for a season, such as the summer, maybe a

You can look at blankets from Hudson Bay Company (Canada), Pendleton Mills (Oregon), Woolrich (Pennsylvania), Fairbuilt Mills (Minnesota) and see a lot of similarities.  They are are warm and heavy and have been made for over 100 years.  Which are the best?  The answer is, it depends. The HBC blanket, in King (which is 8 points for the plebian, as points designates the size), weighs 10 pounds, the Pendelton 8.5, and the Fairbuilt is currently 6.5, so they are clearly different weights of wool (thicknesses).  So if you want the heaviest weight, get the HBC.  You can even get it with fur sewn onto the blanket, such as this one. https://www.thebay.com/main/ProductDetail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302023949&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441826345&R=886456857241&P_name=Hudson%27s+Bay+Company&N=4294966910+302023949&bmUID=mrF2BxA For the Rocky Mountains, Pendleton is more iconic and has more contemporary and old southwest and SW native American patterns than HBC.    The weight is slightly less and, for the price, you could buy almost two Pendletons now for one HBC, so it makes sense in terms of the amount of wool used.  The Fairbuilt is even less thick and the price reflects that, but these blankets are very popular in Minnesota and surrounding areas.  So get what you like, but understand why the prices are different, as the amount of wool used is different for each brand.  The quality is exceptional on all of these.

Wild Wild Country is a Netflix documentary series about the controversial Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho), his one-time personal assistant Ma Anand Sheela, and their community of followers in the Rajneeshpuram community located in Wasco County, Oregon.[1][2][3] It was released on Netflix on March 16, 2018, after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.[3][4][5][6] Turns out though that Osho wasn't crazy. He was a philisophy major in India, who became known as a sage. He was all over the place in lectures, having said he had read 150,00 books, which I believe may have been true. This created something of a cult following, but there was no control exerted by Osho over his followers, though other "leaders" of the commune may have had other ideas for power. He said meditation in the medicine. The mind is nothing but subtle matter, it can be changed easily. If you are generous you are rich. If you want to be rich, be generous. The riches life has endowed you with are not limited. A lawyer and he lives by words, because court is the very temple of this world. Have you seen the buildings of high courts? They are the temples now. Much is wasted on them. Why? The temples have become tiny but the High Court buildings, I’m getting higher and higher and bigger and bigger. In fact the power is there – the power of violence and murder camera the power of law and language in logic. The lawyer is a logician. The mind is time. Conciousness is eternity. His books are a surprisingly interesting samplings from all of the world's major religions and philosophers, as his his Dynamic Meditation technique. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbfVcigkNao&feature=youtu.be His mediation starts out very similar to Wim Hof's breathing methods, before he plunges into freezing

Osho himself was not wealthy at all. In fact, he owned almost nothing. At most, he may have had a Buddha statue and a bottle of unscented shampoo—and that was it. Whatever he received, he gave away, including watches, Rolls-Royces, and statues of Buddha. It was his followers who were wealthy—some of them extremely so. They were the ones who bought the Rolls-Royces and expensive watches for him to use. His apparent display of wealth was pure showmanship. He wanted to challenge the idea that one must be poor to be religious. He believed that as long as poverty was idealized as a virtue, it would never truly be eliminated. He also welcomed the massive publicity the cars generated, once saying that he wanted to make sure “everyone who is looking for me will not be able to say they had not heard of me.” There were other messages behind it as well, such as parodying American materialism. He didn’t purchase these items himself; he simply accepted a few things because people insisted on giving them to him. Osho was often called the “guru of the rich.” In one interview, he was asked why he didn’t use his so-called “enormous wealth” to help the poor. He replied: “People have been helping the poor for thousands of years—and they are still poor. But who is there to help the rich?”

It's estimated that there are roughly 200 billion galaxies in the observable universe. However, estimates vary among experts, with some estimating between 100 billion and 200 billion galaxies. The exact number of galaxies has been a mystery, with estimates rising as telescope technology improved. NASA estimates that there are at least 100 billion planets in our Milky Way alone. Others estimated that the Milky Way galaxy might have anywhere between 100 to 200 billion planets.  They estimate one in 5 could hold life. That means that 10 x 10 to the 22nd power possibilities of planets that could hold life.

The Kewa Pueblo (formerly Santo Domingo Pueblo) in New Mexico holds vibrant, sacred Corn Dances, typically in the summer (especially August 4th for St. Dominic's Day), as an ancient ritual to give thanks for the harvest and ask for continued blessings, featuring large numbers of dancers in traditional attire shuffling in patterns, accompanied by songs, drummers, and masked clowns in the central plaza under cornstalk arbors.  Key Aspects of the Kewa Corn Dance: Purpose: A deeply spiritual ceremony for gratitude and abundance, deeply tied to the land and community's survival. Timing: Often happens in summer, with significant events around the St. Dominic Annual Feast Day (August 4th). Participants: Involves many dancers in double file (men leading women), with women's hands on men's shoulders, changing formations with the songs. Setting: The dance occurs in the central plaza, often with an arbor made of cornstalks and cottonwoods. Elements: Accompanied by drumming, singing, and ceremonial clowns smeared with clay and wearing traditional markings. Significance: A major cultural event, considered one of the best and largest in New Mexico.  Visiting Kewa Pueblo: Etiquette: When visiting any Pueblo feast day, it's crucial to be respectful, follow instructions, and understand that photography is not allowed or they will confiscate your phone or camera. Cultural Context: These dances are religious ceremonies, not performances for tourists, emphasizing the deep connection to their heritage and land. 

Blanca Peak (Navajo: Sis Naajinį́ meaning "black belted mountain";[5] Tewa: Peeroradarath; Ute: Pintsae'i'i) is the fourth highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The ultra-prominent 14,351-foot (4,374 m) peak is the highest summit of the Sierra Blanca Massif, the Sangre de Cristo Range, and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The fourteener is located 9.6 miles (15.5 km) north by east (bearing 9°) of the Town of Blanca, on the drainage divide separating Rio Grande National Forest and Alamosa County from the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant and Costilla County. The summit is the highest point of both counties and the entire drainage basin of the Rio Grande. Below the steep North Face of Blanca Peak two live Glaciers once developed, until extinction sometime after 1903. North & South Blanca Glaciers were located at 37° 35N.,longitude 105° 28W. Blanca Peak is higher than any point in the United States east of its longitude.[b][1][2][6]

With rodeo proudly designated as Montana’s official state sport, the state made a strong showing at this year’s NFR, highlighted by Montana athletes earning major wins and thrilling fans in Las Vegas: Sam Petersen and his Bareback Average Championship win; tie-down roper Haven Meged’s Round 9 win with a lightning-fast 7.0-second run; steer wrestlers Ty Erickson and Jesse Brown; and veteran barrel racer Lisa Lockhart.   But Montana doesn’t just produce rodeo champions. It fosters a culture where rodeo is still deeply connected to the land, the people, and the Western way of life. To truly understand why rodeo lives here, you need to experience it in person. Home to some of the nation's oldest and most storied Western traditions, Montana isn’t just a destination for rodeo fans—it’s a way of life for the people who live it every day. Start your journey at RodeoLivesHere.com, your go-to guide for all things Montana rodeo. There you’ll find 2026 rodeo events, including local favorites like the Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede and Red Lodge Home of Champions, plus regional stops on the PRCA circuit and homegrown competitions across Native nations and ranch communities. You can also explore the stories of people who live and breathe rodeo in small towns with big heart. Ready to plan your 2026 rodeo road trip? Visit RodeoLivesHere.com for travel ideas, event listings, athlete stories, and more. Discover why Montana isn’t just part of rodeo—it’s where rodeo lives.

Photo credit to Stephen Collector by Jim Harrison Let’s not get romantic or dismal about death.Indeed it’s our most unique act along with birth.We must think of it as cooking breakfast,it’s that ordinary. Break two eggs into a bowlor break a bowl into two eggs. Slip into a coffinafter the fluids have been drained, or better yet,slide into the fire. Of course it’s a little hardto accept your last kiss, your last drink,your last meal about which the condemnedcan be quite particular as if there could bea cheeseburger sent by God. A few loverssweep by the inner eye, but it’s mostly a placidlake at dawn, mist rising, a solitary looncall, and staring into the still, opaque water.We’ll know as children again all that we aredestined to know, that the water is coldand deep, and the sun penetrates only so far. Jim Harrison, “Death Again” from Jim Harrison: The Essential Poems. from the Writer’s Almanac Podcast, August 14th, 2019 ______________________________________________________________________________________________For another fun read on Collector and Harrison: https://stephencollector.com/blog/spring-2020-issue-of-the-flyfish-journal

Carrying experiences and burdens The phrase "life is like a backpack" is a metaphor that my father in law used for life being a journey where you carry your experiences and burdens, or the idea that happiness comes from letting go of what you don't need. It suggests that your experiences, both positive and negative, are the "contents" of your "backpack," which influence who you are and how you navigate the world. The analogy can also be used to talk about the weight of grief, the accumulation of possessions, or the beliefs you carry.  Experiences: Your backpack contains your life's experiences—joy, sadness, challenges, and achievements—that have shaped you.  Grief: Grief is often compared to a backpack that you carry. The weight may lessen over time, but it's a permanent part of you that you learn to carry, with some days feeling heavier than others.  Burdens: It can represent the "weight" of psychological and emotional burdens, such as past trauma or limiting beliefs, that can be heavy and difficult to bear.  The contents of your backpack Material vs. essential items: The backpack can represent the things you own. Some people realize that true happiness isn't in accumulating possessions but in letting go of unnecessary "dead weight" to feel lighter and more free.  Beliefs: Your backpack can be seen as a metaphor for the beliefs you carry. You can choose to "empty your backpack" of limiting beliefs to make room for growth and new possibilities.  The journey of life Travel and growth: Just as a traveler learns to pack light, you can learn to carry less. The focus shifts from how much you carry to how freely you can move, grow, and embrace new experiences.  Support: The metaphor can also highlight the importance of support. With a partner, the "weight"