I was perched up on the ladder with heat gun in hand when I heard Luke in attack mode. When I turned around I saw the FedEx man waving a long skinny box trying to fend my protector off. Luke is more bark than bite but he has been known to snip at peoples calf when they turn away. In the end I was relieved there was no attack and that my favorite fly rod had made its way back from Manchester, Vermont.
It was over 10 years ago when I purchased this Helios 9ft 11 wt four piece rod. It's a great rod for the boat, or fishing in big current, or when the wind is kicked up and I'm throwing heavier sinking lines. Of course it's been beat to hell, like my other stuff. I thought about retiring it to the dumpster, just laying it to rest, and buying a new Orvis Helios D to replace it. Over the years Leif has fixed the tip section several times and it was more of a 8'6" than a 9 footer.
So a month or so ago I took advantage of Orvis rod repair program. For $60 I sent it back not knowing if they would even fix the broken tip section since I had already done several home repairs and wondered if any "warranty" would be null and void. When you fill out the form online they ask if the rod "has sentimental value" and I checked that it did. In my mind I wouldn't have wanted to replace a rod I have caught so many fish on, good ones too, and missed the opportunity to bring it to the Lowcountry for a shot at some bull reds.
If you remember the old days when you send a rod in, sometimes, if you're lucky, you would open the box and the rod tube and find a new glistening rod inside. They just replaced it rather than going through the work of the repair. When I untied the rod sock I saw the battle-worn cork grip first so I new my lovely was still intact, albeit with a new tip section. I was happy to have her back and look forward to at least a few outings on the Delaware before we split.
Things in terms of the spring and striped bass have broke open after the full moon earlier this week. From the Hackensack to the New York and Raritan Bays, the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers, to some action on the beaches, and in the Lower Delaware River, the fish just popped like that. Luckily, while I spent every waking moment either loading a dumpster or with heat gun in hand, the striped bass haven't made their way up my parts in the mid-330 mile long river. I would guess that at some point during this week I will find my gear and give it a go, my internal fly fishing urge has started to rumble.
At work we've finished up our Emergency Room rotation at Capital Health's Regional Medical Center. The students did great, one so impressive that he got eaten up my the staff and will most likely have a spot held for him after he sits for the boards. But my hat has to get tipped to and much thanks to the nursing staff that welcomed the kids and did everything to give them opportunities to learn and hone their skills. So while the seniors have ended their clinical rotations I'll be back upstairs on the med/surg floor with the freshman before starting the mental health course in mid-May. I'll be doing the lecture, labs, and clinical rotation with the class, which will include time at TPH, or the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, on their long-term inpatient unit.
And today is Easter Sunday. It's a day when Catholic's celebrate Jesus rising from the dead after three days spent in th tomb following his crucifixion on Good Friday. I may not be the best rule abiding Catholic out there but I am believer, and have faith, it's the only thing, for me, that is a constant in this world that we have bastardized and changed for the worse. In a world of AI and questioning and challenging everything like the entire Bible and Jesus stuff, for me, existing without faith would lead me misdirected an guided. And that, I would say, for anyone who believes in any religion, spirit, higher power, or force.
Easter Sunday's used to be one of the best days when the kids were young. You'd wake them up and have them follow those powdered made footprints around to find candy and gifts inside or outside the house. There were Easter egg hunts and brunches and family dinners. And of course you would have to drag them to church. As they got older and left the nest we pretty much have a 0'fer when it comes to the kids and their own religion beliefs and participation, but that's on them and how they choose to live their lives as adults. I think it's normal, they are forced into it as kids, drift away in young adulthood, and then get drawn back when they have their own families and kids. But in the end Easters are different as you get older.
We'll be heading out to my sister's house for a family get together with good food and mimosa's. It'll be our first visit to her new house after she sold and bought within a month. That's just hot the Monmouth County real estate market is these days. Hopefully some of that action will be alive and well out here in Mercer County.
