At 3:38 PM today (PST), the earth’s axis reaches its maximum tilt, and everyone in the Northern Hemisphere experiences what is supposed to be the shortest day (and longest night) of the year.

Sure, the days are supposed to be getting longer, but it always feels as if winter has just begun, and in fact, somewhere around late February I’m pretty sure the real solstice has yet to take place, and this December 21 thing is just some giant practical joke played on us by a bunch of astronomy geeks still pissed because they couldn’t get dates to the prom.

Still, it’s a day worth a little reflection (and maybe a beer), if only because the river’s high, the snow’s falling, and the little streams are closed for the season.

Normally, it’s time to sit down and tie flies, and given the state of my fly boxes (dismal; I’ve been living off old for the last two seasons), it’s probably time to whip out a few Beetle Bugs. (One fly that handles a lot of jobs is a manifestly good thing given the ratio of time spent writing for TU vs time spent tying flies.)

So tying flies = good.

If only it were that simple.

I suspect not one of the Undergrounders would be surprised to hear 2010 was the most tumultuous of my life; Little M’s arrival at the end of 2009 coincided with a wholesale change in my business model, and change has become the only real constant.

Oddly, my tastes in fly fishing changed too (or grew more pronounced); when given a choice, I opted for small waters every time, and it would take more than a few words to explain why.

I even changed how I work, abandoning word processors for online-friendly text editors (like Emacs and Komodo Edit.

In life, simpler is usually better, and based on the narrow path from my office door to my desk (the one bounded by boxes from a new computer, router, shotgun ammo, fly fishing gear and other stuff), simpler isn’t much in evidence right now.

With Christmas almost here and a trip to Sacramento (Little M’s citizenship hearing) coming a couple days after, downtime isn’t on the calendar until at least the 29th – at which time I’ll be reorganizing my stuff, and (hopefully) sneaking off for a little fishing.

Right after the new year, three big work projects kick into gear, and because I’m mean and self-centered, I’ll be fine with the Upper Sac being too high to fish.

I mean, if I can’t fish it, no one else should either.

Posts could be a little sparse, though remember, when you’re an Undergrounder, you never walk alone (unless you’re hiking through the nasty part of some city, which is when we’re definitely not coming along).

See you simplifying, Tom Chandler.

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