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I wrote a week ago about a delightful adventure JC and I had
with our friend Nils to a private lake an hour or so from
our home.
It seems we always learn something each time we fish. It may
not be earthshattering, but still goodies to tuck into ones
knowledge bank. Of course as we age, we tend to forget more,
so it may all work out even in the end. Nils shared some
history about the lake, interesting it itself. There was
new foliage, plants I hadn't seen before. The lake was
surrounded by reeds, which I assumed were cattails. Had I
looked more carefully I would have discovered they were
a yellow iris, wild, the same kind I actually have along one
section of our little Koi pond here.
In fact, Nils mentioned a evergreen tree which grows up there,
which apparently is quite rare. Part of the getting old, I
can't remember what it is. Next time I see Nils I'll have to
ask.
Have you noticed when you are on the stream or lake, the difference
in colors of the trees? They may all be 'green' - but the shades
and intensity is really amazing. If you were an artist and had
to paint the scene, what could you use for colors? How could you
produce that?
And if you have mountains, have you observed the layers upon
layers which make up the scene before you? If you study it, does
it begin to look like the layers of a stage setting?
And the same tree, growing on a hill a few miles away, looks
entirely different? The color may be deeper - but you know
really it isn't. Something called light refraction and reflection.
And the whole scene changes again with the changing positions of
the sun. Another whole picture.
There were a few wildflowers, we have some books on wildflowers,
but we didn't have any with us that day. So I dug them out and
looked for the little yellow flowers. The one book is keyed by
color of the flower which helps a lot. I did find it, but it
presented another thought.
I can sit in my living room and see a lovely assortment of flowers.
Some are wild flowers which we dug and transplanted. I've lost
a few, but many have survived. Many of the wild flowers have
been 'tamed' and commercialized. And the people who know about
such things have changed the size, look, and even added colors
which the wild plant didn't produce.
Do you have any idea how many flowering plants there are? How
about in the whole world? And who decided to tame which ones
and why?
As the British colonized a large share of the world, they took
little pieces of home with them. They wanted to re-create the
comfort their gardens at home gave them. So across a great share
of the world, roses and lilacs were transplanted. Off the subject,
they also transplanted trout.
As we travel to fish, or spend a lovely day in our favorite stream,
we are surrounded with all sorts of wonderment. It is there for
the looking. A piece of the whole to lift our spirits and
enrich our souls. Make sure you don't miss the show.
~ The LadyFisher
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