A Savory Adventure | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: A Savory Adventure | Previous Challenge Entry
By Karen Dick
02/11/16
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My teeth began to chatter as I exited the warmth of the Jeep. While wrapping my jacket tightly around me, the radiant stars above caught my attention. Soon the sun would emerge, hiding them and bringing the heat of the day. The Oregon high desert could be challenging in that way, but at the moment, a little warmth sounded fabulous.

The Fisherman finally had the rods and tackle box collected out of the car.

“Let’s get going,” he called. “There’s a fish waiting for us.”

I fell in line behind him, with our Border collie guiding us on the trail toward the river. The large boots on my waders were without cushion, making each pebble’s presence known as I hurried to keep up. Never would I have imagined that waders with suspenders would be in my wardrobe collection, and I was sure I could be mistaken as a clown.

The Fisherman explained that we would catch a beautiful, large trout on this trip. He would broil it in butter with lemon pepper. It would be mouthwatering and delicious. I was skeptical, that on my first fly fishing trip I would catch a fish at all, but to appease my husband, I went along with it, looking forward to a scrumptious dinner.

Finding the perfect place to catch our unassuming fish was apparently critical and time consuming as we climbed over branches, scrambled up rocky banks and scooted down slopes. Fortunately, the sun was peeking over the distant mountains, and I could no longer see my breath.

“This is a good starting place,” the Fisherman announced as he suddenly stopped beside the river.

While he expertly tied the artificial fly on my line, I decided it was a great time to have a coffee break. I poured steamy coffee from the thermos into a paper cup and sipped as I dreamed of the buttery fish we would be eating in just a few hours.

My break was short and I quickly found myself in the icy river preparing to cast my line. Following the Fisherman’s instructions, I held the line with my left hand while casting with my right. Much to our dismay, the first thing I caught was a tree branch. It was going to be a long day.

Since the fish seemed to dislike our flies at that spot, we moved on. Then we moved on again. And again. I was happy that our Border collie was having such a splendid time romping through the grass and wading through the shallow water. At least someone was.

The beauty of God’s world in the quiet was spectacular, though. There were snowcapped mountains in the distance, and birds flying overhead. I was admiring a large hawk swooping above, when it landed on top of a tree. I watched, assuming it was feeding its young. Suddenly I heard high pitched screeching as the hawk pecked. I realized then that the hawk wasn’t feeding anything but itself. I truly doubted that I was cut out for this outdoor life.

As the heat blared down on my head around noon, I cast my line for the umpteenth time. Unfortunately, a giant log got in the way of my hook and I was caught. Turning my head to search for the Fisherman, who had disappeared to find another perfect spot, I suddenly heard,

“Come quick, I caught our dinner!”

Relief flooded my soul as visions of the swimming pool danced in my head. With exhaustion taking over, I left my rod behind, lugged my enormous boots out of the water and practically crawled to the Fisherman. He had caught a beautiful Rainbow Trout. The dog sniffed it as the Fisherman took the wriggling fish off of the hook and slid it into a plastic grocery bag on the ground. The fish thrashed and struggled as the dog and I watched. The flopping of the trout gradually slowed until eventually it stopped. I stared at the fish as I realized I had watched a living thing die.

The buttery, lemon peppered fish lay on the platter in front of me. Proudly, the Fisherman sat across from me with a smile. As I struggled to put a bite of fish in my mouth, I seriously considered becoming a vegetarian.

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