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Photo of Jeremy Fain and his 18 pound channel catfish taken at Shasta Lake.
“The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.” John Muir
I gotta’ tell ya right now, I am not talking about cobwebs in the attic of a house. I am talking about the cobwebs billowing around the attic of my noggin.’
With all the birthdays, anniversaries , annual family gathering with pit BBQ and the drilling of a new well, I have not been in the mountains or on the rivers at all. My mind is in a fog in the 104 degree heat trying to write. No backroads or adventures equal little to no inspiration for writing. Just cobwebs in the attic.
The starter is out on my street bike. Who wants to trailer it to Redding in this heat? The rafts sit disassembled in the barn having never been readied this spring. Now the rivers are low and my favorite, the Upper Sacramento has long dropped below the exciting water levels of springtime. Our San Francisco Giants have been taking a whuppin’ mid season. Are these the “dog days of summer” or what???
BUT…..I am heading to Lake Shasta soon to hit the catfishing! When the water levels drop in the lake the bite turns on and my son has the secret hole of channel cats ranging from 5 to 20 lbs.! We grab a beer, munchies, chicken gizzards and whoever wants to tag along for an all night fishing trip on the lake in the patio boat. Haha, this is my idea of cleaning out the attic!
AND….. August is the opening of archery deer season! We have tags for our favorite area in Central Siskiyou County and will have a quick couple of days of hunting. Then we head over to Eastern Lassen County to scout and help my son-in-law who scored a highly sought after deer archery tag in zone X5B. Heck, they only issue five of these tags! This is my old stomping grounds as I grew up in Susanville and I love the high desert along the Nevada border, beautiful country.
THEN…..hunting seasons open one after the other. Dove, grouse, band tail pigeon, archery elk and antelope all waiting for those fortunate enough to draw tags where needed. Ahhh, I can almost feel it cooling off! Just thinking about the upcoming adventures clears the cobwebs a bit more.
FINALLY…..it really will cool off a bit by the end of August or the first of September. This is the perfect season to get out and enjoy the bounty of the great State of Jefferson. Now is the time to clean your attic of all those pesky cobwebs! Warm days and cool nights welcome everyone to the outdoors. It does not matter if you hunt, fish, climb on your bike (motor or pedal) hike or simply sit and watch a sunrise, moonrise or sunset, get out of the house and partake of the offerings in our beautiful neck of the woods!!
“Learn to like what doesn’t cost much. Learn to like reading, conversation, music. Learn to like plain food, plain service, plain cooking. Learn to like fields, trees, brooks, hiking, rowing, climbing hills. Learn to like people, even though some of them may be different…different from you. Learn to like to work and enjoy the satisfaction doing your job as well as it can be done. Learn to like the song of birds, the companionship of dogs. Learn to like gardening, puttering around the house, and fixing things. Learn to like the sunrise and sunset, the beating of rain on the roof and windows, and the gentle fall of snow on a winter day. Learn to keep your wants simple and refuse to be controlled by the likes and dislikes of others.” ― Lowell C. Bennion