# strange but impactful moments in nature



## mrhnau (Sep 28, 2005)

Every once in a while, you can observe something in nature, or really life in general, that really sticks with you and makes an impact. Anyone care to share some of those moments?

When I was around 12, I was walking by a pond we had at our house. I watched a very small snake (6 inches or so) being chased across the top of the water by a turtle. The turtle was eating him as he was swimming, and the snake was already missing some of his body. I don't know why, but it always stuck with me. Just seemed like a beautiful yet primal dance.

Also had a vulture fly over my head, about 2 feet out of my reach. Just something about it being so beautiful, delicate and graceful in the air changed the way I look at them and other birds of prey in general.

Anybody else?

MrH


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## Sapper6 (Sep 28, 2005)

i saw an F3 tornado completely level a town of 3,500 people in less than 5 minutes; then spent the next 10 days searching for survivors, force protection, and clean up.


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## arnisador (Sep 28, 2005)

I'll never forget walking around during Hurrican Gloria.

But I can think of some animal moments too.


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## MA-Caver (Sep 28, 2005)

Being as outdoorsy as I am I've had numerous of these episodes. All of them humbles me that I am not as powerful or all knowing as I like to think I am. 

I don't want to share all of them here at once but probably will pop-in from time to time to share something that someone else's post reminds me. 

One (of many) that sticks out is when I was leading a group to a cave. The hike begins as a gradual upclimb for about a mile and a half before one has to turn off the main trail and hike (nearly) straight up the canyon walls (at roughly 70 degrees angle). It was a nice spring morning and (for once) I was ahead of the group, lost in my own thoughts. I paused at a bend in the trail where a healthy mountian stream crosses, to await the others to catch-up. I turned and took a few steps and lo, in the middle of the stream stood a big-horn sheep. He was skinny from the hard winter we experienced but his rack was at a full curl. We were roughly 20-30 feet apart. He stood looking at me and then non-plussed he bent back down to finish drinking. 
I turned to my companions who were chatting animatedly and made shushing motions as they approached. 
The Ram stood his ground and all of us got a chance to see him. What made the encounter even more special was that as we stepped closer he moved off (as predicted) but surprisingly he followed the exact same trail that we were to take to the cave. More so he would go up about 50 yards and then stop as if to wait for us to catch up. I jokingly at one point mid-way during the hike (in a loud voice) said: "Uhh, we already know how to get to the cave thank you."  

I was moved by this as I've never encountered these animals at such a close distance, usually they're just brown dots moving along the grey of the limestone. 
An awesome morning to be sure. :asian:


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## OnlyAnEgg (Sep 29, 2005)

Recently, I was driving to my brother's house to borrow his lawnmower one afternoon. He lives about 10 miles away by highway. I was driving at speed (about 60 m/hr) when this small bird swooped in front of my car, about windshield level.

Now, bear in mind, 60 mph is 88 feet/sec.

The bird flew in from my right and _hovered_ in front of my car long enough for me to see it's colors, which were gray with somewhat lighter gray marks. It was as if time halted long enough for me to take complete notice of this creature, even though it was probably only a split second (or about 44 ft.). Then, the bird flew off to my left. How it held it's position is beyond me; though, I daresay a look into the flow dynamics of air at the front of my car may yeild a satisfactory answer. I'd rather not do the research.

It moved me quite deeply, though I know not why.

Also, a day or two later, I saw a fire column over the morning sun for the first time.

egg


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## Tgace (Sep 29, 2005)

I once fell asleep deer hunting and awoke to find a squirrel sitting on my foot......


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## oldnewbie (Sep 29, 2005)

When I was about 26-27 yrs old, a co-worker took me on a cave diving weekend. Now this was my first experience diving, let alone cave diving.

 The beauty that lay below the ground was humbling, as was the un-earthy feeling of floating....

 But that does not compare to being blown away standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon....there are no words.....


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## arnisador (Sep 29, 2005)

OnlyAnEgg said:
			
		

> I saw a fire column over the morning sun for the first time.


What is this?

As to the Grand Canyon, I too was surprised by its impact on me. It was hypnotic. Ditto for the (not natural) Mt. Rushmore.

There's something about a hawk in flight...I always love that site. My wife helped me learn how to pick out the hawks from other birds at a distance and now I always get a kick out of seeing one swooping in the air.


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## mrhnau (Sep 29, 2005)

arnisador said:
			
		

> There's something about a hawk in flight...I always love that site. My wife helped me learn how to pick out the hawks from other birds at a distance and now I always get a kick out of seeing one swooping in the air.


I grew up in the country, and we had a red tail hawk in our woods. I always loved watching them, especially after they harvested the crops and lots of mice and other rodents were running around in the field.

We also have a bunch of barn owls. Its always a pleasure seeing them leave their shelter at dusk. Can barely see their outlines. Quite graceful.

We also had bats! Try going swimming in your pool and watching bats skim some of the dead bugs off of the water beside you. Rather neat!


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## Martial Tucker (Sep 29, 2005)

I've done a lot of wilderness camping and backpacking, much of it in the Rockies. In doing so I've had my share of encounters with bears, including having one stick his head in my tent in the middle of the night. Still, I've never felt so vulnerable and out of my element as when I was diving in the Fla. Keys a few years ago and had a 10 ft. Tiger Shark check me out at a depth of about 20 feet. I rarely felt genuinely threatened by the bears, but the shark was a real and vivid reminder of where I _really_ stood on the food chain.


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## OnlyAnEgg (Sep 29, 2005)

arnisador said:
			
		

> What is this?


I've been looking for a proper term and/or image. _Edit-- And I've found it!_

_Here's what it looked like, only larger when I saw it:_






_The science is_ _here_

egg


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## arnisador (Sep 29, 2005)

Cool! I don't think I've ever seen the like!

A few other neat places: Devil's Tower, Wyoming--all the more impressive with people climbing it.

The most memorable experience of nature I've had is probably on the roof of a ten-story hotel at 8000 feet in the mountains outside of Salt Lake City (Snowbird Resort). The roof has an open-to-the-air swimming pool and a sauna. Sitting in the sauna, ringed by mountains, looking at the sky...it's like touching the stars. The ring of mountains is amazing.


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## shesulsa (Sep 29, 2005)

I've also had many experiences like this but the most recent happened two mornings ago on my front porch.  My son woke with croup so we were bundled up in a camp chair in the cold, damp air of the early morning to bring down the swelling of his larynx and were watching the birds flit about between the prolific old growth Doug firs in our yard and neighborhood.  We watched a humming bird dart around and of course there were the ever-present bluejays and crows when we saw what we at first thought was a woodpecker.  We could only see it's sillouette until it moved to the tree nearest us and we saw that it was a male bluebird - more rare than the bluejay.  We were marvelling at the bluebird (my son's first viewing) when _two eagles_ soared low overhead from one tree on our property to a tree across the road.  I knew we had a nest in one of our trees, and as my eyes followed them I saw a second nest in the tree they came to rest in.

 We've seen hawks and heard them cry and the eagles screech daily but it was such a quiet, majestic moment for them to be only about 20 feet over us - it was just amazing.


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## arnisador (Sep 29, 2005)

Honestly, the image of a mother sitting out in the cold with her sick child, trying to heal him, is a striking image of its own.


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## tradrockrat (Sep 29, 2005)

Oh my.  There are so many stories.  I've been climbing, traveling, and camping for my entire life, and have tons of funny, scary and downright bizzare animal stories, but the one story that immediately comes to mind has nothing to do with animals.  It is the time I was stranded at the top of a mountain in a lightening storm.  

I don't think anything can be more humbling than the realization that nothing - not one thing - around you cares whether you live or die.  It was a cold, wet terrifying hour as I tried to get down a mountain face while being the olny lightening-rod around...


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## Martial Tucker (Sep 29, 2005)

tradrockrat said:
			
		

> Oh my. There are so many stories. I've been climbing, traveling, and camping for my entire life, and have tons of funny, scary and downright bizzare animal stories, but the one story that immediately comes to mind has nothing to do with animals. It is the time I was stranded at the top of a mountain in a lightening storm.
> 
> I don't think anything can be more humbling than the realization that nothing - not one thing - around you cares whether you live or die. It was a cold, wet terrifying hour as I tried to get down a mountain face while being the olny lightening-rod around...


 I've had that terrifying experience too. Nice feeling...Knowing if you go too slow, good chance you'll die. But if you go too fast, good chance you'll die.
 All the while, all you can think about is how each step might be your last. Time slows down, and you aren't even aware of being wet, cold, tired, etc...

   When it's over, you just look up and say "Thanks for letting me hang out awhile longer"


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## tradrockrat (Sep 29, 2005)

Martial Tucker said:
			
		

> I've had that terrifying experience too. Nice feeling...Knowing if you go too slow, good chance you'll die. But if you go too fast, good chance you'll die.
> All the while, all you can think about is how each step might be your last. Time slows down, and you aren't even aware of being wet, cold, tired, etc...
> 
> When it's over, you just look up and say "Thanks for letting me hang out awhile longer"


Yeah. And THEN the shivering and cold hits you and the hike out is pure misery. I still remember that day in a haze. I remember that feeling of "hyperfocus" on the little things like feeding the wet rope through the ATC cause it was soaked and binding up instead of looking at the lightning all around me, and I remember looking carefully for every step down, all the while my mind was screaming, "Get downdowndowndowndowndown!" And the funniest part is that the whole time you're sure the rock or storm will kill you, but once your down, the rock and storm become your best friend and you actually THANK them for not killing you!:idunno:


EDIT:  I didn't like the feeling of my hair trying to stick straight up through my helmet either...


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## oldnewbie (Sep 29, 2005)

Martial Tucker said:
			
		

> ......Still, I've never felt so vulnerable and out of my element as when I was diving in the Fla. Keys a few years ago and had a 10 ft. Tiger Shark check me out at a depth of about 20 feet. I rarely felt genuinely threatened by the bears, but the shark was a real and vivid reminder of where I _really_ stood on the food chain.


 
 How about being down 70 feet, and having a Stingray rub it's underbelly over your bald head....I suppose they itch too....or the Barracuda, or Moray....
 Cool stuff!!


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## Loki (Sep 29, 2005)

I'll never forget the time I was conscious of the end of my sleep and the beginning of my being awake. It wasn't a single moment, but rather a process. In my dream, I was looking at my house from the outside, when I began to hear crescendoing music. As the music faded in, my dream faded out, and I found myself awake in my room with the music I heard, coming from the MP3 player.


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## mrhnau (Oct 3, 2005)

A few years ago I went to the beach. I was out walking at night. I was walking near the shore, and noticed the sand was glowing! It was pressure sensetive. You step, and the sand would glow a bright yellow around your foot. You could drag your toe in the sand and leave a trail of light. It was quite beautiful!

I looked it up later. Found out it was flourescent bacteria. My grandfather was in the Navy in WW2 and would periodically notice at night from his ship. The propellars would churn them up, and they would leave a glowing wake. Quite neat!

Same beach, at two different times I got to witness turtles laying eggs on the beach. Never got to see them hatch, but it was still very beautiful.

MrH


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## Tgace (Oct 3, 2005)

Hey Trad..I weathered out a thunderstorm on a belay station 3 pitches up in the Adriondaks, water flowing over me like I was under a waterfall. The positive thing was, after it passed I must have picked up a half rack of protection from all the whimps (read smart people) that bailed out around me as the storm came in. 

Nothing like rappelling down a wet rope with the cold water roostertailing off the ATC right into your crotch either eh?


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## Lisa (Oct 3, 2005)

I remember sitting by the Bow River in Alberta watching a Duck and her ducklings swimming around when an eagle came and swooped down and took one of the ducklings.  It was pretty amazing to see nature and survival at work.


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## Tgace (Oct 3, 2005)

I once had to pull out a storm grate, jump in and rescue a bunch of ducklings that fell through the slats while following the mother duck across the street. "officer friendly" at your service.


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## OnlyAnEgg (Oct 3, 2005)

Oooo!  I seen one of dems once!


Looked like this:


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## Tgace (Oct 3, 2005)

Yep. Thats what happened. They arent so quick to be saved either, the speedy little ******d's!!


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## mantis (Oct 3, 2005)

yah..
i watched "Volacano" on TV.. like 10 years ago
it was good movie


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## Tgace (Oct 3, 2005)

Speaking of climbing, I had to share...note my belays one handed photo technique. That means hes holding my life in one hand here....HEY!


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## Tgace (Oct 3, 2005)

Then there was the time a 500 lb black bear cleaned out the food of every other camper out in the middle of the high peaks region....went from a crowd to just my 2 buddies and myself. Odd sight watching a bear the size of a compact car climbing a 12" dia tree.


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## Lisa (Oct 3, 2005)

I grew up in a small northern Manitoba community.  I will never forget my mom waking me up at 5 am shaking like crazy.  When we looked outside in our back yard, there was a black bear eating from stawberries we had planted in the back yard and our labrador was going nuts stetched at the end of its chain.  My mom was so scared.  We all waited upstairs until the police came but by then it had wandered off.  For the next few days our favorite play area down behind my house was off limits.  The bear was finally caught in a trap placed there and released.  Closest I ever came to a bear that wasn't behind a cage, closest I ever will want to be


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## MA-Caver (Oct 3, 2005)

In one cave I saw a neat little crawling passage to go explore for the heck of it. It was a belly crawl but still enough space to flip over on my back if so desired. I should've ignored the desire at that point when reaching the apparent dead-end of the crawl. 
Flipped over my back to see what there was to see and a mere 4 inches away from my face on the ceiling, was this nice large brown spider who's body was at least as large as my palm and legs that were suitably proportioned. Two of those front legs were up in a classic defensive posture. .... ohh kay! Sorry to have bothered you...  
Fastest (on my ) back crawling feet first, I've ever done I think...


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## arnisador (Oct 4, 2005)

We woke the kids up once for hail the size of golfballs, telling them they might never see it that big again. They wanted to go out and play in it wheil it was hailing. We said, maybe not.


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## Tgace (Oct 4, 2005)

This place was a pit worn into a shale escarpment by a waterfall (which you cant see because the photo was taken from along its edge). There is a pool with a whirlpool at the bottom flowing out into a creek.


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## tradrockrat (Oct 4, 2005)

Tgace said:
			
		

> Hey Trad..
> 
> Nothing like rappelling down a wet rope with the cold water roostertailing off the ATC right into your crotch either eh?


Too funny!  Sucks for sure.


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## Cryozombie (Oct 4, 2005)

I dont have any great pics of me on the rocks... heres a sucky one:






 I have had my fair share of "brushes with nature" but none that had a great impact... I would say the MOST impactful one was driving all night to Colorado once, just for the heck of it... it was dark when we got there, and in the morning I walked out of the house I was staying in and saw the mountains for the first time in my life... (Im from the midwest, fer cryin out loud) Standing off in the distance, All tall, purple, and the sun was shining off the clouds... holy cow.


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## Tgace (Oct 4, 2005)

Another shameless "look at me" photo.


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## Lisa (Oct 4, 2005)

Tgace said:
			
		

> Another shameless "look at me" photo.



Yup, thats you... I can tell by the color of your legs


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## Tgace (Oct 4, 2005)

:rofl:


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## bluemtn (Oct 4, 2005)

I've had several encounters with nature that has a tendancy to leave an impression.  Fortunately for me on some, and unfortunately for me on others, I wasn't quite able to get a picture.  I've seen baby turtles hatch on a beach in S.C.- they were sooo cute!  I've had close (but not dangerous) encounters with deer that just walked right up to my car (I was stopped of course).   Then again 3 years ago,  I actually RAN over a deer with my car- luckilly the car didn't flip.  What happened was the deer ran in front of me and I slowed down so I wasn't worried at the time.  Then it decided to run back and smashed into a car in the opposite lane, sending the car into a 180 spin into my lane (I actually saw the headlights in my rearview).  To this day I still don't know how I managed that one! My car didn't even get hit by the other car! I've gone into Md. without realizing there were tornado warnings- radio didn't work-  I saw a lot of things flying in the air (no, it wasn't quite a tornado yet).  A truck in front of me barely slowed down, and proceeded to do a u-turn to go back home.  I've had the entertaining chance of riding in a fire truck, because my boyfriend's car got stuck in a ditch during a snow storm.  There are others, but I won't write a book and bore everyone.

tkdgirl


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## shesulsa (Oct 5, 2005)

OUCH!!! TOM!!!

  ... man ... blinded by the light .... :ultracool

 either you're part Siddhe or you glow in the dark - I think you're whiter than ME - and that's saying something ....


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## Tgace (Oct 5, 2005)

That was beyond the pale.....
No more off color remarks...


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## bluemtn (Oct 14, 2005)

I saw a very rare sight today (relatively up close, that is).  There was a bird- either a gold eagle or hawk (not sure which), sitting in the middle of the road getting ready to take off with its prey.  I saw it on a qiet road on my way back from my parents house!  Last time I saw something like that, was at some nature thing where a ranger was talking about animals, but that bird was "tame" (loosely speaking, of course).


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## Loki (Oct 15, 2005)

mrhnau said:
			
		

> A few years ago I went to the beach. I was out walking at night. I was walking near the shore, and noticed the sand was glowing! It was pressure sensetive. You step, and the sand would glow a bright yellow around your foot. You could drag your toe in the sand and leave a trail of light. It was quite beautiful!
> 
> I looked it up later. Found out it was flourescent bacteria. My grandfather was in the Navy in WW2 and would periodically notice at night from his ship. The propellars would churn them up, and they would leave a glowing wake. Quite neat!


 I read something about that. There's a 250 mile long "glowing spot" in the Indian Ocean that they believe is also flourescent bacteria. Weird stuff, but beautiful.


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## Simon Curran (Oct 16, 2005)

One that immediately springs to mind is diving in the Carribbean to the edge of the Cayman Trench, something about being in 40 meters of water and looking down to nothing but a couple of miles of blackness kind of puts things into perspective in an awe inspiring, jaw dropping, oh my word look at that sort of way...


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## mantis (Oct 16, 2005)

Lisa said:
			
		

> Yup, thats you... I can tell by the color of your legs


 men dont ALWAYS have to wax their legs
 hey, i dont believe you guys arent talking about the wacky paki earthquake!
 it wiped 40 thou 
 that's is some IMPACTFUL moments in nature!
 they say 95% of the city is gone and it cannot be revived, the UN said the situation is hopeless, the 200,000 inhabitants are all believed to be gone dead or homeless


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## Makalakumu (Oct 16, 2005)

Ee gads!  I could fill this thread up pretty quick.  Given that the area that I live is right in the thick of some of the most beautiful land in the country.  I have impactful moments with nature all of the time.  

After church today, I'm going to one of my favorite rivers for a little steelhead fishing.  The Bois Brule River is a scenic waterway that has attracted people for thousands of years.  The entire stretch is navigable by paddle.  There are class three rapids on the river...not so big, but they can be fun.  About a week ago, we had a huge storm that dumped about nine inches of rain.  I went with a friend afterward to check one of my favorite runs.  When we got there, we found the river over its banks in many areas and The Ledges were rolling with 8 to 10 foot standing waves.  I've never seen the river like that...

Anyway, back to fishing.  Last year, on the same river, I was standing in a pool quite a hike up the river.  All of the leaves around me were at peak color and the forest was a fireflash of color everywhere one looked.  The wind was still and every once and a while a leaf would tumble down to the water's surface.  I could see this gigantic chromer in the pool chasing the eddies as they formed.  

The color of the forest, the stillness in motion, the clarity of the water, the perfect fall of the leaf, it reminded me of a samurai movie.  Everything was exquisite.  My rod whipped back and forth with my presentation and, in that instance at least, my cast happened to put my fly right where it needed to be.  

You can not imagine how quickly a 33 inch chromer can shatter your tranquility.


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## Makalakumu (Oct 16, 2005)

These pics are from the BWCAW in northern MN.  I've spent a lot of time here...and now people occasionally pay me to take them to these places.  In reality, nature pays me enough with her beauty.


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## Makalakumu (Oct 16, 2005)

*Proof that God Loves Pollocks*



This weekend began with grand fishing plans, like always.  Then three things happened, like always



1.        My wife hands me the honey-do list.

2.        My wife says, "Gee, I haven't seen much of you lately."

3.        I suddenly realize that I have been an insensitive jerk and that I have been derelict in many of my non-fishing duties.



Sigh, sounds like a typical weekend.  

Not so!  For I am one of those rare persons who are possessed of both a devious mind and a sound moral character.  Plus, I had a new shore-casting rod sitting in my garage lying unused for the past two weeks.

So, I make a fair attempt at the honey-do list while keeping a watchful eye on my wife.  I wait for a moment of weakness, when the boredom of watching me toil has nearly driven her mad.  Then I utter the mellifluous words...

"I have an idea...why don't we go for a drive up the Shore.  We'll hit Betty's pies and get a slice of seven chocolate heaven, have a cup of coffee and head back."

The wife, tempted by the double Satan of nature and chocolate cannot refuse, "Yeah, I think that sounds great!"

Yes, I rub my hands with glee, it was a done deal.  The rods were already in the van along with the cooler and my tackle.  So, I loaded my daughter into her seat, ushered my wife to the passenger side and roared out of the driveway like a dervish.  

The March sky was cold and gray.  Snow was spitting down on gusty northwest winds.  There was a hint of spring in the light of day.  Minnesotans know, intuitively when winter is winding down because it is proportional to the angle of the sun to the horizon.  Despite this, we were stuffed into our warm clothes, cozy and comfortable.  The vans heater was humming its warm breath over us.

I made it halfway over the Bong Bridge before my "darling" little daughter blew my cover.  She lets out a peal of wicked laughter that causes my wife to turn her head and look behind her.  Somehow, some curse must have been upon me.  The hubris I have generated up to this point was too much and Karmageddon was at hand...

"Why are there fishing rods in the van?"

I couldn't think..."Uh, I don't know...uh, I thought, maybe we could make a few casts..." I shrugged sheepishly.  The jig was up.  There was nothing to be done.  

My wife, rolling her eyes with utter disdain, reads me like a cheap tabloid.  "So how long am I going to be stuck out there waiting for my pie?"

"Uh, we don't even have to fish, honey, you know me, that whole Boy Scout thing.  Be prepared."

"Yeah right."

The drive through Duluth was silent.  My hopes were dashed.  My plans ruined.  Of course, I told myself, if I would have gotten my two year old out there, she would have probably ran into the ice cold freezing water anyway.  I wouldn't have been able to fish much anyhow.  I couldn't rationalize it though.  I knew I was beaten.

I made the turn on to old Hiway 61.  It was gently snowing and my wife was staring out over the lake.  We passed the French river and I asked if we could stop so I could see whether or not anyone else was catching any fish.  She said fine and picked up her book.  I steered the van into the lot, which was filled with big manly trucks.

Out of peer polish stubbornness, I opened up the rear of the van and grabbed my rod.  I could hear my dear wife's eyes roll.  Shuffling down the stairs to the lake, I found myself confronted by a phalanx of fishermen standing and sitting shoulder to shoulder.  I walked to my place on the far flank and skipped over the river to the other side of the mouth.  

On my first cast, the clouds broke and I heard a voice in my head.

"One more."  A raven landed on a tree behind me.

I reeled in the old battered silver and blue Kroc spoon and let fly with an arc that cut through a shaft of sunlight.  Scintillating, the spoon hit the water and was immediately engulfed by a fish.  

The rod was bent.  My heart was pounding.  It tail danced on the tectonic flank and I was, for a moment, Beowulfski, with the Fire Wyrm on my sword.  I reached down and landed my prize.

I walked to the van with the fish proudly before me.  The eyes of my compatriots were filled with the frustration of knowing that this guy had just walked into their midst, made a couple of casts, and walked away with a fish.  I knocked on the window, holding my prize, standing in the new golden light.

My wife turned to me and smiled with surprise.  It was a look that told me that "Yes, God Does Love Pollocks."


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## swiftpete (Oct 16, 2005)

I remember when I was in Thailand waterfall hunting with my friend, we'd hired a car and found this massive waterfall. No one at all around and miles from anywhere. Great! Every time we'd get to what looked like the top, we'd see that a bit further upstream it went up another level. It took us ages to climb and every time we saw a pool at the bottom of the waterfall level that we were at, we'd have a swim.

When we were nearly at the top i was wading through the pool when i looked right and saw a large snake gliding towards me, I don't know a lot about snakes but it was pretty long, a bit thicker than my wrist and and had a brightly coloured yellow/orange head, which was sticking out of the water. My friend didn't see it but just saw me bounce into the air with an almighty leap and a loud and fearful yelp. I don't know how dangerous it actually was but the fact it was coming towards me instead of swimming away i think means it wanted to show me who was boss! Of course we realised that all the pools we had swam in could easily have had snakes of their own afterwards. Not life changing or anything but it was pretty cool to see. Typically we'd ran out of camera film so I couldn't get a pic though.


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## arnisador (Oct 16, 2005)

I wander around Albuquerque seeing roadrunners running along the road, cacti growing wild, etc. It's so different from what I'm used to having grown up in NY that it seems wodnerous to me, though it's commonplace here.


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## Shaolinwind (Oct 16, 2005)

mrhnau said:
			
		

> Every once in a while, you can observe something in nature, or really life in general, that really sticks with you and makes an impact. Anyone care to share some of those moments?
> 
> When I was around 12, I was walking by a pond we had at our house. I watched a very small snake (6 inches or so) being chased across the top of the water by a turtle. The turtle was eating him as he was swimming, and the snake was already missing some of his body. I don't know why, but it always stuck with me. Just seemed like a beautiful yet primal dance.
> 
> ...


I saw a hamster eat her own young.. I became very suspicious of my parents...


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