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Summer is half over, although here on the west coast our
moderate climate allows us nice weather some years all the
way into November. I was reading some of the archives
here on FAOL and can't help but comment that we will soon
be marking our eleventh anniversary as a website. How can
that be?
I can't possibly use the old phrase, "A lot of water has gone
over the dam," because it is just too trite - so how about "a
lot of water has passed under the bridge?" Either way, a lot
of things have happened in that eleven years.
And while we have added new sections to FAOL, a new
Chatroom and new Bulletin Board, we've had and attended
a whole bunch of regional Fish-Ins and met an incredible group
of fly fishers who make up the core of what FAOL is.
The best news is I just renewed our license and our website
registration for another two years.
So for at least that long, (providing nothing happens with either
the dam or the bridge - see above) we will continue to produce
this website for you.
A good number of you have been here since we put the first issue
up Sept. 1st, 1997. To those who were there in the beginning, our
sincere thanks for your loyal support. If you found us later, we're
delighted you found us. We've lost some folks who passed on to the
great stream in the sky, and hope they will leave a fish or two for us
when we join them. Some folks just left, some of which could be they
didn't agree with how this site is managed. On the other hand, the
national figures of various types of recreation say that five years is
about average for anyone to stay interested in one recreation.
Which maybe is why so many people do stay with fly fishing. You
won't ever know everything, (isn't that great? well, except for Castwell)
and there are so many parts of the sport to be involved with. Obviously
there is casting, the knowledge of the insects, rods - including building
them, reels - same thing, lines and leaders and the whole big world of
fly tying. Something literally for everyone. And you can take any of
them as far, or as little as you want. On top of that, there is travel to
neat places where fish live, and the comradeship of other like minded
people. Of course Fish-In's are prime examples of that, but a lot of
FAOL folks get together on their own to meet and fish on their own.
That's as it should be.
Our world today is so impersonal, we hardly know our neighbors
names. Not at all like it was some even twenty years ago. So it is
a good thing to have friends to share ones thoughts and concerns with.
The central meeting place for all that indeed is Fly Anglers OnLine.
We know many of you talk back and forth, and email too. It would
seem friendship is not dead but alive and well. The art of conversation
also lives. (Been in our Chatroom lately?) And just try getting a word
in edgewise at a Fish-In.
Eleven years seems like it should be a long time, but in reality it has
zoomed by. I must admit though, I seem to have aged just a little
during that time. But you haven't changed a bit. ~ The LadyFisher
If you would like to comment on this or any other article please feel free to
post your views on the FAOL Bulletin Board!
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