The Lazy Days Of Summer

Sitting here beneath the shade of a tall tree, just fishing and wasting the morning away.
The sun is just rising over the Eastern slops, the river is running past in it's route to a larger river, and on to the ocean. It is calm and quiet here all alone, not another sole around. This is a great time to just sit here and think, and watch all of the wonders of the world pass by. A bull elk just came out onto a rock cropping, to take a look around, and sniff the air for any danger's, before coming on down to the river to get a drink. Then he wandered on down to the river's edge and drank the cool clear water. Then wondered back into the Forrest and disappeared from sight. A beaver came swimming down the river doing his daily chores of getting ready for the coming winter, taking bark and twigs to hes hole underneath the river bank. The fish are not biting today so I can just sit without having to move about, but just sit and watch as the world passes by.The deer come almost close enough to just reach out and touch, as they feed nearby. I just sit here in the grass and watch as Gods wonders go about their daily duty's. A cow moose comes down to the river's edge to take an early morning swim, and get to the other side, then as the elk disappear into the forest. The deer are still just milling around feeding and haven't even seemed to notice that I am even here. The birds are all singing as if to have not a care in the world. Who needs any of those modern things that we all pay so dearly for. No need for a radio with the birds singing their tune's, no need for TV when you can watch these wonders.There is no TV that can show a sight this clear, no radio can play a tune so great as this with all the clarity. To be here and see all of this first hand, in real life is an indescribable feeling of the greatest gratitude, that no radio or TV can give to it. I by myself feel great in the early morning hours, and all alone to just sit and think the hours away. Early morning is a time to just sit back and think, and be grateful for all of the wonders that God has made that we all take for granted. So sitting here Just wasting time,(well not really wasting time) but taking in all of the wonders on a lazy summer morning.
As I think back when I was a small boy, I know that I did not appreciate all of these many wonders, even though I was always fascinated to sit and watch, and enjoy them all the same. I would get up early and do my morning chores, then head to the river bottoms to spend the day just being lazy. Here at the river I meet up with some of my friends, and we would swim and just lounge around and wast the days away being lazy. Then as the day would be coming to an end I would have to rush home and do my evening chores, before my dad got home from work or else, he would make me wish that I had. But now that I am older I have learned to appreciate all of these classical wonders that God gave me to enjoy. I still like to be lazy, and sit on the river edge and listen to the water rushing by, and take in all of the sights, that now I have came to appreciate, instead of wanting to chase them away, just for the thrill of running after them, and see them fleeing in front of me. I never thought that something like this would ever happen to me, I was always the outdoor type, hunting, fishing and such never to just sit and enjoy all these little things that are here for all to enjoy. So now I can appreciate a lazy day of summer.

Just some pitcures from 2009 fishing trip

These are a few over looking the Salmon River at Yankee Fork turnoff

Another Salmon Fishing Trip

Our Salmon fishing trip up on the Salmon River.

We left home on the day of June 23rd 2009 on a fishing trip in or nearby Challis, Idaho on the Salmon River in the heart of the Sawtooth Mountains. My younger brother ( Kris) his wife (Becky) and their daughter (Shayna) also went with us. My other brother (Kevin) and his wife (Tonya) also come up to be with us later in the week. It was a 41/2 hour drive to where we would find a campground to stay, just outside of the city limits of Challis, Idaho. It was just before dark when we got our camp set up at the campground. We got up the next morning and after breakfast, my brother and I went out to try our luck at catching a big fellow. We found that the river was unseasonably high., the water was also very cold, and so the Salmon were not running that far up stream yet.So we pretty well fished the day away anyway. With a break in the middle of the day to go to town and get some goods we needed.So we spent some time shopping in town at the few places that there are. Challis is just a small town so there are not many places to shop.Then it was back to camp,and more fishing, then a relaxing quiet dinner. My youngest daughter (Lindsey) and her husband (Chase) we call him Bobby came and spent some time with us The next day we all three guys went fishing for a while,still not even a bite(except of course for mosquitoes). So then we all loaded up and went to Yankee Fork to try our luck at some gold panning. There is an old gold mining town there called Custer. We took a tour of the town and bought a gold pan from the gift shop there. Well what do think that we did next? Right we went down to the small creek and started to try panning. Of course you new that we would have to try right? Not much luck there either. So then it was back to camp. The route back to camp was 80 miles of some very scenic driving. So back at camp we decided to see if the Salmon had gotten there yet, still no luck. Then the next day still no luck. But we are die hard and kept trying, with no luck at all. The next day my other daughter came from Washington. Michelle, her husband, Shaun, and their two boys Masen, and Gabriel. So that evening Michelle, Shaun, Masen, Gabriel, Lindsey, Bobby Leisa and Myself went to some hot pools, up in the Sawtooth's. It was a 3 mile hike to get there, but everyone had fun in the pools we never got back to the car till midnight. Then the next day the fishing was still poor, so we decided to go back up to Yankee Fork with the family. Masen wanted to try his luck at panning, and luck would have it there was some forest service people that have a panning education set up. They gave Masen a pan full of dirt and began to teach him how to pan, he found 5 small nuggets of gold in then and it was his to keep. This was great except that every thing that glittered now must be gold, and he would want to pan it. Then it was back to camp with still no luck fishing. So finally we had to leave and go home. But two weeks later we went up to Stanley, Idaho just below the Sawtooth Hatchery. Now the water was lower and warmer, so the Salmon were running, up stream to spawn. Lindsey caught one that was 32 inches long, but after the 900 mile swim up stream it only weighed 8 pounds, we stayed in a tent that night in a campground near Stanley, and fished for two days. There was 7 of us there and I was the only one that did not even hook one Salmon. But then I had just as much fun as the rest, because I enjoy just being able to be out somewhere like that, out in the wild, out with nature. I really don't care if I do not catch a fish as long as I get to go. So out of all of this, Lindsey was the only one to land one of these enormous, and spectacular fish. It is hard to believe that they swim all of 900 miles to get to the ocean in three months then stay for 3 years and swim all the way back to their birth place upstream to spawn and then that is the end of their journey of life. We went to the Sawtooth hatchery, and toured through it, and there we learned about this great journey, of the Chinook Salmon and all that they endure through life. Only about 1/10Th of them will survive to make it back here to spawn, the rest will either be eaten by other predators, or just die along the way. So to sum it all up we had a great time up on the Salmon river trip. I can't wait to do it again, it is so refreshing to be out in nature. While there I was all alone fishing, and seen a cow Moose swim the river, a bull Elk came within 50 yards of me to drink from the river, he came out onto a rock cropping to look around and sniff the air for any danger before going down to the river to get a drink. The Deer would feed only feet away from me, a Beaver swimming peacefully up and down the river taking winter food to his hole, the birds all in song, there is no greater feeling in all the world. It was so peace full to see and do all that we did, there was no rush to be here or there, no traffic to fight with . Just me and all of Gods wonders. I thank God for being able to enjoy all of the magnificent wonders that he made. For to me to be out with nature just sit and watch the beauty of the rushing river, the squirrels gathering all the food for the following winter, the magnificent ghost of the Forrest (the bull Elk) and all of the other wild things doing their daily task to prepare themselves for winter is so relaxing to me to no way that I can describe. It is like being in a fantasy where I am just a part of a world that doesn't even exist. Then when I am back at camp being with the people who matter the most to me, where I have no concept of what the boss has to say, or any of the other things that we put up with in our every day lives. If only I could just stay here for all times, and never have to go back home. This may not be for all, but I am sure that there is something that you would rather be doing than just getting up to go to work, and coming home at night tired and going to bed, knowing that, that is all you have to look forward to in life. So I am looking forward to my next adventure, and the day that I can just walk away from all of this, the every day job of just being your typical Milkman, and just do what I love to do today and every day.

Retired Bull Rider

I am a retired bull rider. I used to rodeo when I was younger. I started when I could ride in the little buckaroo rodeo's. Then as I got older I started to get more serious, and started to ride bulls and saddle broncs. I never could get good enough to stay riding saddle broncs though, besides they hurt every part of my body even when I didn't get thrown off. So I just stuck to riding bulls, I would hit all of the ammeter shows that I could. My Father bought some bulls to feed out and sell. So I would load them in a small truck that dad had, about 6 head at a time and haul them to the local rodeo arena in town, and buck them out, every night of the week except when I was at a rodeo. I never could get hold of enough money to join a rodeo school, so I had to learn all on my own. I finally got good enough to join the Rockey Mountain Rodeo Association (RMRA), a semi pro rodeo circuit. Then I would be at some rodeo every weekend all summer long. Through the winter months one of my friends would put together a string of bulls, and every Saturday he would put on a bull riding jackpot at an indoor arena. I started to finally learn to ride somewhat and not winning very much, but learning never the less. Then finally I got good enough to start to win, then I would get thinking that I was good. So sooner or later I would bite the dirt and find out that I was not all that good. I kept on riding though and learning more all of the time. And I started to win more and more. Finally I got good enough to win more than I was loosing so I thought. I was in third place in the standings in the RMRA, the last year that I competed. It was looking pretty good. I was a candidate to go to Gallop New Mexico, to compete with other semi pro circuits. Only the top three money winners were able to go compete. Then it happened, just what everyone said would happen, it is not if it happens but when and how bad you get hurt. I was at a show in Morgan Utah, I had my wife with me this time,and I had drawn a bull nobody liked, he was bad and not good enough to win any money on. I had to get on because to turn out was just unheard of by my standards. Well I got on and called for the gate, when we left the box all Hell broke loose, I ended up underneath him and this was not good, he stomped all over me. But I didn't think that I was hurt so we messed around till the rodeo was all over, then I drove about 100 miles to home. About the last 20 miles I started to hurt, I guess that the adrenalin must have been wearing off. We got home and I can't even remember going into the house. But my wife said that she helped me in and into bed. Well when I woke up I wasn't in my bed, I was at the hospital. I asked my wife where we were, she told me and I said that I didn't need to be there that I wasn't hurt. She made me stay until the Dr. came back with his results, and he said that I was bleeding internally, and he needed to find out where it was coming from. Well the bull had stepped all over my body and I had a perfect hoof print right over my spleen, so he didn't know if my spleen had been ruptured, that's when he told me that if my spleen had been ruptured that I would be dead by morning. So needless to say I decided to stay, at least long enough to find out. After they ran some more tests they found that my left kidney had been crushed, well this is not to serious so I thought. That's when the Dr. told me that I would have to stay in the hospital at least over night to be under constant observation. This was not good to hear. My nurse came in to check me every 15 minuets all through the night, And talk about ugly she looked like she had been ran over by a freight train. She came in and I looked at her, and she must have known what I thought, because she told me what had happened to her without my even asking. She told me that she also was a bull rider and that a bull had stepped right on her face and had crushed it, boy she was ugly. So then the next day around 4:00 in the afternoon I was thinking that I had been abandoned and that my wife had deserted me She finally arrived, then I told her to get my clothes and we were leaving, and she said that the Dr. had to come and release me. Finally he came in and said that he wanted me to stay another night. What another night? No way was I going to spend another night in here. I told my wife that I was leaving whether I was released or not. So that was when he made me promise that I would go home and stay in bed for a couple of more days, and not ride any bulls for at least 2 weeks, by now I was ready to promise anything, so I promised him that I would be a good boy and do as he asked. So we went home. I was already drew up in a show the following weekend and I had no intentions of missing it. So my wife and I went, and I had told her that I had to take my Dr.'s excuse so that I wouldn't have a turn out to my credit. All the time I was planning to get on. It was about a 150 mile drive, and it had me hurting pretty bad by the time that we got there. So then I decided not to get on, and went to the rodeo office and cleared it up so that I wouldn't turn out. Then as all things have to happen I continued in a downhill spiral till I was in 10th place. Some how I managed to stay in tenth place till the circuit finals in December, and made it in in the top 15, which is all that could compete. They had a two bull final, and I won one go around and fourth in the average, not to bad I guess. So I collected my winnings and went home. There wasn't enough winnings through the whole year to cover all of my expenses. This was not good, you can imagine what my wife had to say about it. Earlier on in the year I had quit my job as a carpenter, so I had to find a job. I landed a job driving long haul trucks, this would keep me away from home a week at a time, and there was no time for rodeo. So this did bring a end to my bull riding career, and I still wonder if I had been able to stay with it if I would have gotten good enough to make it on the pro rodeo circuit, and maybe on to the national finals, which is every cowboy's dream. Now you know why I am an retired bull rider.