The Snow Falls, The Fish Cheer and Computers Still Kinda Bite…

In the last 48 hours I’ve put in a fair amount of snow blower time, which is bad for my back but good for the state of California, whose snowpack levels had dipped under 100% of normal for the first time this year.

As much as I enjoyed the three weeks of sunshine and 50-degree days, I know how hard drought is on our finny friends (especially with predators like Westlands circling our water like sharks).

Blue skies, white trees, happy fish...

So while I don’t like moving the stuff on what amounts to a professional basis, I’m still happy to see it falling from the sky.

And yeah, snow makes everything look pristine, and as the snow eddies and circles outside the windows at night like a school of fish, I’ll admit to a certain unearned smugness, fired by the cozy, wood-fired (and heat-pump assisted) warmth inside the house.

(Once the power goes out, the hubris disappears in a hurry.)

Still, despite the 18″ of snow – a lot of which is melting – Upper Sac flows continue to fall, and it’s just possible that Wayne Eng and I will – next week, if all goes well – try to chase down that rumor of BWOs on the river.

Following rumors during warm weather is a low-risk endeavor; even if it proves to be a bust, the fishing is usually good enough to offer up a trout or two via all the usual tactics.

In the winter, the word “bust” takes on a whole new level of meaning, suggesting you never saw a bug, never saw a rising fish, never got bit, fell into the river, and froze the whole interval between the walk back and the time the truck heater finally got going.

Who wants to come along?

Going For Launch

The next week should prove to be a manic one, with another new client website launching and a large-scale project only a couple weeks away from going golden.

Naturally, the big, fast Desktop PC Of Doom I ordered to speed this whole process has never performed even a byte of real work, having been delayed, finally arrived, then sent back to the factory for some warranty work.

Having arrived for the second time, it’s still suffering some demons.

It’s irritating enough that I wish I was out fly fishing, and not just because I’d rather be fly fishing than doing almost anything work related.

Fly fishermen can be incredible snots about their gear, with “normal” people channeling Felix Unger when it comes to the quality of the cork on their fly rod, but even the worst of us know the stuff works pretty much as advertised right out of the box.

Anyone want to trade a computer for a fly rod?

See you in the snow, Tom Chandler.