A Peach Tree in an Apple Orchard

I have decided to relocate to Wisconsin.  I have an interview that looks promising so I am making an assumption of sorts.  I decided to spend two of my last three days (supposedly) in Tennessee fishing the mountains.  Lots of fish on and a few to hand on the first day.  I left my aunts place in Knoxville and headed east.  As I passed through the winding country roads and hills of Tennessee I could smell the dampness of the crisp Autumn air.  With many leaves on the ground but quite a few still on the trees I thought of my life as a child and young adult and how my life has worked out for me in general up to this point.  Old friends that I had lost touch with and family members that I cared for but had grown apart from.  Distances that I should have made time to travel and choices that I could have made more wisely.  I was a slow learner in this life and have taken my share of hard knocks.  I have finally reached a point in my life where I realize what is most important to me and it doesn't come on four wheels, start with an "I" nor does it have 3000 square feet with a large bonus room.  No, my treasures can't be bought and they come with warm hugs and smiles and call me "brother, uncle, nephew" and before my fathers death in 1993 "son."  As I headed into the depths of this Smoky Mountain canyon I thought of my father and how I know he would have loved fly fishing.  I thought of my family and how they are always there for me, no matter what.  I thought of the likely coming lifestyle change and the driftless region that would possibly become my new home waters.  Hopefully I can live the second half of my life the way I should have lived the first half, with more concern for my fellow man and more focus on what is really important.  We only get to go around once in this life and I want to go to the other side that I made a change, even a small change, in my fellow man's life for the good.  I want to know that I told my family that I love them often enough and that they are in my thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The typical fish for me in the mountains.  There are large fish but it's rare that I catch one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One last look...at least for a while