I watched as the first ripple, the one you try so hard not to make, bounded across the shallow pool that lay ahead. Immediately a few wary trout scattered. Desperately I begged that they not alarm their brethren that finned just upstream at the head of the run. My sigh echoed the fact that this wasn’t the first time my clumsiness or lack of patient restraint had alerted fish to my presence, nor undoubtedly would it be my last.

The morning sun glinted off the clear water and warmed not only my skin, but also the blood of the coldwater residents that called this creek home. Life continued its daily routine oblivious to my presence, birds communicated through song-fillled ...  view full article...