I used to think ski instructors were the most patient people around. That based on having myself tried to teach a friend or two to ski, and constantly being baffled by their inability to grasp a concept as simple as the snowplow: Pinch your knees in, weight the inside edge of your skis, turn. What could be more simple — SO WHY DON’T YOU GET IT?
Sorry. Didn’t mean to raise my voice.
I held that conviction for 35 years. Until I met Scott Wood and Jim Coveney.
Scott and Jim teach the daylong Intro Fly Fishing clinic for Great Outdoor Provision Co. In addition to being expert fly fishermen, they are gifted in the art of cheerful tolerance and eternal optimism.
“Let’s see what we’ve got here,” Jim said as he walked over to examine my hopelessly tangled tippet, the microscopic microfiber that links the slightly thicker leader and the heavier line, with the lure.
I looked around and remarked that no one else seemed to be inventing new knots with their line.
“Nah,” he replied. “This is the third one today I’ve had to untangle.”
Patient and diplomatic.read more
Danny Bernstein, in red, with Carolyn Hoopes encourage Sharon McCarthy on her Pretty Hollow Creek crossing.
On a crisp afternoon in November 2009 I was hiking along Pretty Hollow Creek in the Great Smokies when I heard voices up ahead. I looked up to see three backpackers, two on the far side of the creek, a third, wearing a jester’s hat, tiptoeing her way over the creek atop a downed hemlock. The two who had successfully made the passage were offering their … encouragement to the one in transit. Then, one yelled about the last two words I was expecting to hear.read more
Mother Nature may be slow to get in on the spring season but the events calendar isn’t. A great range of spring activities are on tap across the state this weekend, starting with star parties across the state Friday night, followed by a paddle on the Scuppernong River Saturday and the Tour de Lure mountain road ride. Get out and embrace spring!read more
“How are we doing?” the guy asked with a bemused look. I was momentarily distracted by the vintage WWII Jeep the guy and his girlfriend were in, and before I could answer, he added, “You weren’t hiking along the river, were you? Because there’s no trail along the river.”read more
When I started running in the late 1970s, I would find a shoe, run it into the ground in six months, head back to my local Phidippides to buy another pair — and discover the manufacturer either no longer made that shoe or had drastically altered it to the point that a shoe that recently fit a short, wide foot now only accommodated a sleek Cinderella. It would take me three or four more six-month cycles to find another Mr. Right Fit — and six months later that shoe was likewise gone. I still remember the sales guy trying to console me after breaking the news that my beloved Saucony Jazz had changed and was no longer right for me.read more
