With the Montana Road Trip looming large through the windshield, it’s hard to ignore the fact that half of Northern California’s on fire, though at this point none seem to be headed our way:
(Click to go to fire map Web site)
Even Singlebarbed is feeling the heat (at work anyway, and it’s nice to see that slacker him buckling down for a change), though the whole wildfire thing is creating some compelling interior commentary.
For example, should a fire burn towards our nestled-against-the-mountain house while I’m gone, I fear the L&T Nancy will manifest the wrong reflexes, saving photographs, clothes and irreplaceable personal items instead of what’s really important: my bamboo fly rods.
It’s a frightening mental picture; the pet-laden L&T-mobile bouncing down the driveway jammed with photo albums and clothes while the fire burns hungrily towards my Phillipsons, Raines, Beasleys and Thramers.
It’s the kind of image that wakes you up screaming at night, and the smart fly fishermen would bundle his favorite rods together, prepping them for rapid evacuation by air, though the prospect of finding a Rod-Evac helicopter on short notice seems a little far fetched (there’s a gold-plated business idea for the Undergrounders, at no charge).
Clearly, a good night’s sleep carries costs far beyond a comfortable mattress.
Of course, that’s assuming I don’t end up stuffing pretty much every fly rod I own into the truck for the Montana trip – a real possibility given my pre-trip tendency towards carefully selecting the bare minimum of rods, then panicking just before I leave and throwing everything that’s left on the pile (I sense a separate post).
Until the Big Fly Rod Decisions are made, I’ll see you in the downstairs Man Cave, staring at tubes, Tom Chandler.
Technorati Tags: california wildfires, fly rods, bamboo fly rods, montana fly fishing trip
The obvious solution is to immediately airfreight them, ALL OF THEM, to my house.
That way you’re almost certain to have at least a couple fine cane rods left post-conflagration.
Happy to be of service.
Sully(Quote)
Tom,
Paul Kedrosky has hacked up some tools for you to keep track of the fires in real time. See here:
http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2008/06/24/more_than_800_c.html
But, if you still feel uncomfortable leaving all those rods at home, I’d be happy to store them for you. Of course, I’d have no such need for those things in the river-less land I live in, so you can be assured they’ll be safe and sound.
Michael(Quote)
Tom, take the graphites and glass rods and leave the bamboo at home. Miss Nancy can use them (assisted by a generous dollop of gasoline) to start a backfire – thereby saving the ancestral estates and all them precious Senior prom photos you assumed no one knew about…
kbarton10(Quote)
This post is certainly a step up from the bikini concept, but still a really, really bad idea. Don’t force me to post on your blog yet again (I’ve got a web browser and I’m not afraid to use it).
Tom Chandler(Quote)
In all seriousness…what would you do with all those rods if you had to evacuate? I had never evacuated for a storm before Katrina, and I was in a real quandry as to what to bring, especially since I was busy boarding up windows (a waste of time, it turned out), and I had to get one last round of golf in before the course was obliterated by fallen trees. It was interesting, to say the least.
ijsouth(Quote)
What? You don’t have a plan for disaster already? Even my kids Mickey Mouse and Disney Princess rods are stored in the custom made fire proof safe when not in use.
oatka(Quote)
IJ & oat: Whoa, big fellas. I actually have given this some thought. I don’t own much that can’t be replaced, and the mental list has already been written in my head.
Let’s hope the list is never needed.
Tom Chandler(Quote)