Fishing For Understanding
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before
A guy goes on a guided fly-fishing float down the Snake River with three close friends and one stranger. The stranger is a guide and he happens to love telling endless amounts of tales. At the end of the float, the guy realizes he knows more about the guide than he does about his three close friends.
You probably haven’t heard that one. I’ll tell you about it. Enjoy the scenery.
Three weeks ago I got up early and drove a few dozen miles through mountainous Idaho landscapes with my friends Nate, Pete and Paul. In the time it takes to watch an episode of The Golden Girls we arrived at a boat landing and met our guides. Nate and I decided we’d share a boat with a guide named Jim. Pete and Paul floated with a dude named Grey. Apparently, Grey’s name matched his personality. If Jim had a name to match it’d be Talkie McTalkington.
From 8 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Nate and I got buried in stories. He started off recalling a time he looked Neil Diamond directly in the eye when told not to, then moved on to the evening he drank beer with Alice Cooper and Stevie Nicks at Rob Halford’s birthday party. I know where he grew up, where he’s lived, how strong his dad is, and the many places he worked. James recalled various females he shagged (Yes, shag was his preferred…
