I am playing a 9 man .05cent/.10cent NL table on PokerStars (and having my way with it) and listening to the most incredible guitarist to emerge since Michael Hedges............her name KAKI KING!
Power, energy, layers and layers of richness.......music that moves me more than I've been moved by music in a long long time. I DL'd her album "Legs To Make Us Longer" off of ITUNES and have been transfixed for an hour straight. I heard an interview with her on NPR a while back and was absolutely blown away. A show I will definitely see when she comes to my neighborhood.

Anyhow, I was pondering my blog lately, thinking I might explain the title "The Reluctant Midwesterner". Well, 11 years ago (my god, it has been that long) my lovely wife wanted more from life than the grind of real estate management, wanted to attend graduate school. Since I love her so much, I told her to start applying. Well, this and that aside, acceptance was an afterthought and soon we were off to our new life as midwesterners. May 1995 began one of the hottest summers (with overnight lows dipping into the low 90's) I had ever experienced, especially in light of my love affair with summer in the mountains of Colorado. I groused and grumbled that we would be leaving "here" the day after she graduated. My "reluctance" to be a midwesterner was well stated (perhaps overly so). When I called home to my family and friends, I would go on and on about how "out of here" I was as soon as she graduated. Well, after a while, the heat subsided and friends were made (as I tend to be socialable) and a co-worker, born and raised in my new town, took me under his wing and showed me the nooks and crannies of my new state. Smallmouth, Kentuckies, Crappie (my new favorite fish), and even my beloved trout were in abundance if I knew where to look. And now I do, and now my stay here is much more palatable. In all actuality, I won't leave here ever unless an opportunity for my wife or myself makes it impossible to say no. I think I may be losing some of my reluctance. We'll see.
*L*T*

February 6th in the Heartland, today was colder than it has been in quite a while. I really wanted to get outside and chase some "urban trout" at a local lake, but I couldn't really muster up the wherewithall to gather my gear and go. The state conservation department stocks lakes in urban areas with "trophy trout area" restrictions in place. Meaning no bait, soft rubber lures, etc. Well, if you were to ask the local riff raff sitting on their buckets with jars of Power Bait next to their tackle boxes, "We be fishing for them catfish" is the common refrain. That is why I have yet to go and experience "Urban Trout Fishing". I really detest poachers and those who disrespect a resource, treating it as if it was their birthright and they can do as they damn well please with it. To be a conservation agent just for a day, I would have writers cramp at the end of that day after issuing tickets to the scum of the earth. Truth be told, I'd rather pistol whip them into unconciousness. But fortunately, I'm a bit more civilized than that. But not much!
Starting off on this journey called my blog, I wondered about the tone of my writing, should it be loose, informal, writing as I would speak or should I keep it formal. I guess we'll see as it unfolds.

Happy Groundhogs Day!
It is early Feburary and it has been unseasonably warm here in the Heartland. I have been running around without a coat, rolling the window in my car down, and smiling when my gas bill comes in the mail. My thoughts have turned to trout fishing a lot lately. In Colorado, winter fishing was a passion of mine. I enjoyed the solitude of it. Under the right conditions, the warmth of the afternoon sun would make me forget it was Janurary or Feburary. A midge hatch would bring the trout to the surface, and evidence of my terrible eyesight.
Here, in my new home, winter trout fishing take on a different skew. Being hundreds of feet above sea level as opposed to thousands, trout tend to act pretty much the same year round. I have to wear waders this time of year, but other than that, the same flies, tatics, and structures produce fish time and time again. The rivers are less crowded but sharing is still necessary, as the resources available are quite limited in preportion to the population. There are still some places where solitude can be found, especially on the weekdays. Maybe I'll sneak off in a couple of weeks and chase me a few McClouds.
*L*T*