Randy
Upcoming Book Release Event
Something Fishy from the 19 Century…
The Fish, the Man, and the Spirit
by Leigh Hunt
To a Fish
You strange, astonished-looking, angle-faced,
Dreary-mouthed, gaping wretches of the sea,
Gulping salt-water everlastingly,
Cold-blooded, though with red your blood be graced,
And mute, though dwellers in the roaring waste;
And you, all shapes beside, that fishy be,—
Some round, some flat, some long, all devilry,
Legless, unloving, infamously chaste:—
O scaly, slippery, wet, swift, staring wights,
What is’t ye do? What life lead? eh, dull goggles?
How do ye vary your vile days and nights?
How pass your Sundays ? Are ye still but joggles
In ceaseless wash? Still nought but gapes, and bites,
And drinks, and stares, diversified with boggles?
A Fish Answers
Amazing monster! that, for aught I know,
With the first sight of thee didst make our race
For ever stare! O flat and shocking face,
Grimly divided from the breast below!
Thou that on dry land horribly dost go
With a split body and most ridiculous pace
Prong after prong, disgracer of all grace,
Long-useless-finn’d, haired, upright, unwet, slow!
O breather of unbreathable, sword-sharp air,
How canst exist? How bear thyself, thou dry
And dreary sloth? What particle canst share
Of the only blessed life, the watery?
I sometimes see of ye an actual pair
Go by! linked fin by fin! most odiously.
The Fish Turns Into A Man, And Then Into A Spirit, And Again Speaks
Indulge thy smiling scorn, if smiling still,
O man! and loathe, but with a sort of love;
For difference must itself by difference prove,
And, in sweet clang, the spheres with music fill.
One of the spirits am I, that at their will
Live in whate’er has life—fish, eagle, dove—
No hate, no pride, beneath nought, nor above,
A visiter of the rounds of God’s sweet skill.
Man’s life is warm, glad, sad, ‘twixt loves and graves,
Boundless in hope, honoured with pangs austere,
Heaven-gazing; and his angel-wings he craves:—
The fish is swift, small-needing, vague yet clear,
A cold, sweet, silver life, wrapped in round waves,
Quickened with touches of transporting fear.
– See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23389#sthash.iQ4K2S7J.dpuf
Barred Owl
This guy has decided to use my bird station as a bait site. He’s picking off red squirrels as his appetite dictates.
First Review of New Book…
One fine day on the ice
Wide and Deep debuts!
My new book in hardcover, Wide and Deep: Tales and Recollections From a Master Maine Fishing Guide, will soon arrive in the mail to those who have preordered it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or from Skyhorse Publishing, NY. The first public place where it will be on sale is the Eastern Maine Sportsmen’s Show on the campus of UMaine in Orono in the Field House, Saturday, March 8th 1-3 pm, and Sunday March 9th 2-4 pm. I’ll be hosted by John Holyoke and the Bangor Daily News in their booth at the show. I look forward to shaking hands, signing books, and swapping tales. See you there!
Power back after ice storm ’13
The lights went out around noon on Monday, Dec. 23rd and never blinked back on until evening, Dec. 26th. The whole family Christmas came off splendidly on generated power. Many oaths were uttered by folks with no backup plan for an extended power outage, folks who will have something in place for next time. We uttered our own oath after Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Power was out for 7 days then, but much worse for many others. This was only 4 days, but even now, Mainers in Washington County, Hancock County, and parts of Penobscot County are still waiting… We’re wishing warmth, light, and power on soon for everyone.
Mrs. Claus preparing for her party
We cut down, dragged out of the woods, and set up an 11 foot Frasier fir yesterday during the ice storm. It dripped for 8 hours, then we strung the lights. The deer peaking over the top is not the one that strayed my way this November. Shelley is stringing garlands around the fireplace, and there’s my grandfather’s sleigh up high, the one he was pulled in when he was a baby in the late 1880’s!
Pack Baskets of Maine
http://www.packbasketsofmaine.com/page/942/home
These are the best pack baskets you’ll find anywhere. I have two of them and there is no end to the uses I can come up with for them. Beyond being attractive and well-made, they are durable! I’ve abused mine through years of hunting, ice fishing, snowmobiling and in all kinds of foul weather and they still hold up through it all. I know the owners and can’t recommend this product enough.