Yesterday, Orvis posted the above letter on its Fly Fishing Page on Facebook. There were over  1,500 posts in response. From a very rough count, I estimate that anti-Orvis posts were running about three to one over those thanking Orvis for their letter. I assume that’s to be expected: there’s…

And, of course, the other pandemic is that of mass shootings in the United States. After the last year of shutdowns, social isolation, and fear of the COVID-19 virus, there were no mass shootings in public places in 2020; mass shootings are defined by the FBI as four or more…

Andy Rooney is credited with saying that “life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.” There is a good deal of truth in that statement whether he said it or not, but there is a big “but” – and…

The second day of the impeachment trial of ex-President Donald Trump focused on recreating the events and timeline of the insurrection on January 6th, 2021. The House managers presentations contained many shocking and terrifying images. But among the elements of those presentations the one that has chilled me most were…

For a civil society to exist, there has to be agreement on some facts. There can be no democracy without a civil society. So here are a number of facts. Joe Biden was elected as President on November 3rd, 2020 – there was no steal. Without the government and other…

Robert Traver, whose real name was John D. Voelker, was a lawyer, author, and fly fisherman from Upper Michigan. He is best known for the novel, Anatomy of a Murder, that was turned into a critically praised and popularly successful movie that starred Jimmy Stewart – it is considered one…

Every year I pick a book to read that I put off earlier in life due to length or that I had considered otherwise intimidating. Last year I read War and Peace. The previous year I started  Les Misérables – interrupted by my 2019 medical adventure; I’ll have to come back…

Baseball used to be the known as America’s National Game – replaced, sadly for many reasons, by the dominating colossus of the National Football League. But for many decades, baseball was The Game with hot summer days spent on dusty local fields, and with warm summer nights spent at a…

Orvis, as they did last year, launched its Moment of Chill for holiday season. These are short videos that can lift one’s emotions with a trip into nature with no commentary and only a restful musical score. In an always stressful holiday season, this year compounded many times over by…

While the resolution of the 2020 election works its way through appeals, denials and temper tantrums, the transition continues to the eventual inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20th, 2021. Depending on their political affiliation, if any, people are ecstatic, angry, or indifferent – and yes, there are many of…