A Toy Story
Peeking into the dumpster
sometimes pays off. Throwing out the trash I spotted a plastic grocery bag full
of discarded children’s toys among the coffee grinds & crap.
The bag revealed a collection
of plastic farm animals – a few cows, a couple sheep, a pig, & a handful of
horses. I doubt if these would be very big sellers now-days. The plastic
animals were old, a type popular when I was a kid, though, being made of
plastic, they exhibited an ironic immortality.
Also in the bag was a newer
kind of toy, an eclectic assortment of colorful plastic blocks, cogs, &
other items meant to be assembled into fanciful machines. Examining the parts,
I noticed the molded plastic pins that hold the parts together were too
thin & weak to hold up to the abuse a crafting child might dish out – &
a lot of these were broken – a flaw in the design that may have resulted in the
toy being thrown away.
Fingering through the farm
animals I came across the porcelain horse. A type predating the plastic models.
The sorrel porcelain horse had
been lovingly painted by a child’s hand. A young girl crazy about horses, I
guessed. Perhaps, now, she’s my age & with no grandchildren interested in horses
or farm animals or concocting silly toy machines. Perhaps her grandchildren are
grown.
Maybe the little girl’s dream
of owning a real horse eventually came true.
The horse’s rear legs were now
broken off at the knees. The break looked fresh, possibly the result of the bag
being tossed against the steel dumpster. I found the legs in the bag.
An overweight preteen wearing
a black T-shirt advertising ‘Megadeath’ passed, side-eyeing me
warily. He slammed his skateboard onto the pavement & jumped on it, sending the squadron
of nervous gulls keeping watch on the dumpster wheeling & squalling up like a burst of confetti to the contrailed sky.
I brought the bag home &
sorted the plastic farm animals into the recycle bin, keeping the porcelain
horse & plastic machine parts.
There is a visible scar on
the horse’s rear legs where I glued them back on. Yet, the porcelain horse abides.
Sure, it’s silly, I suppose,
but it was something to do. I thought to craft a sculpture, of sorts, to place in
the small garden area where we like to sit when the weather is nice, & I
thought the dumpster find might provide the makings for it.
Assembled, my version of the
machine emerges as the multi-hued nightmare construct of a crazy person. It is
deceptively cute, evoking a twisty delight at first glance. Yet, the machine’s
confrontational posture cannot be ignored, that producing a strange uneasiness
in the viewer. We don’t know what it will do. We’re not sure it can be trusted.
The porcelain horse is another
story. It is somehow familiar, like an old friend not seen in a long time. We
know what it will do. We know that all the toy horse needs to animate it is a
child’s hand guided by an untethered imagination.
The Horse & The Machine
now face off by the bushes at the edge of the garden. The work is done. Not
sure the affect on others, I will leave any meaning – tired metaphor, evocative
reflection – up to the individual viewer. They are for your consideration & open to interpretation.
Catching Tacos &
Staying
Fishy
Fish taco season is coming to
an end for me, as we will shortly migrate North until November. The larger
pre-spawn males are showing up in the local surf & I’m presently engaged
trying to capture & eat as many of them as I can before leaving for the inland Northwest. The models posed in the
photo are 3-pound class barred surfperch I lucked upon up the coast near Hearst Castle.
They are sporty as well as delicious. Here’s our recipe for fish tacos:
Fillet your perch, cutting away the rib section (bones). One fillet
will make a taco. Roll in flour, then egg, then Penko seasoned with salt,
pepper & a dash of garlic salt. Fry quickly in hot oil until browned.
Fold corn tortillas & fry
in hot oil until soft or crisp, as preferred.
Place a fillet in each taco
shell, squeeze on a few drops of lemon, & garnish with grated cheddar cheese, shredded cabbage (not lettuce), chopped onion
& cilantro, then top with
fresh salsa or (my favorite) siracha mayonnaise.
I'm convinced that eating fish tacos will keep you
healthy & make you fishy.
The Reel News
Stand up for clean water.
Hank Patterson: https://vimeo.com/318595164/6c53ee4bea?fbclid=IwAR0tjyPVnusgLQ9I6gUpa9cLI4ZcnK2OV-x456OGCozII1FKZYyKSnFclwQ
And comment here:
Voluntary beat-down:
More voluntary (yet
informing & self-affirming) beat-down:
A thing I’ve suspected for
some time now:
 |
| Calibaetis gathering in the cabin window. |
 |
| Lost March Brown on the tying bench. |
At the Tying Bench
I’m fairly certain everybody
is chomping at the bit looking forward to the upcoming season – & I’m no
exception. Mixing it up at the bench, tying some streamers & wetflies to
swing in the early season, along with some wee BWO’s. Other than those early
season flies, I’m (as always) randomly projecting with a mix of softies, some
patterns of my own design, & some classics. Here’s what’s coming off the
vise (in no particular order):
 | |||
| BWO ~ #18 Daiichi 1150 ~ thread: olive Pearsall's ~ hackle: partridge ~ rib: fine wire ~ body: waxed tying silk |
 |
| PMD Emerger ~ #14 Mustad 3366 ~ thread: camel UNI 8/0 ~ hackle: brahma hen ~ tailing: 3 wood duck flank whisps ~ rib: fine silver wire ~ body: pheasant tail swords twisted with tag of the tying thread ~ thorax: peacock herl |
 |
| Hackle Sculpin ~ #6 TMC 200R ~ thread: olive or brown UNI 8/0 ~ front hackle collar: olive guinea ~ tailing: olive marabou topped with olive guinea ~ rib: copper wire ~ body: dark olive blended hares mask mixed with a pinch of Hareline Shrimp Pink UV Dub ~ palmer: brown shlappen or saddle hackle |
 |
| Orange Coachman ~ #8 TMC 200R ~ thread: orange UNI 8/0 ~ front hackle: red/brown hen ~ tail: GPT ~ body: peacock herl ~ girdle: orange tinsel ~ rear hackle (wing) white hen |
 |
| Olive Sedge ~ #14 Daiichi 1480 ~ thread: camel UNI 8/0 ~ hackle: partridge ~ rib: fine silver wire ~ body: olive rabbit mixed with a bit of olive antron ~ thorax: hares mask |
 |
| Copper/Partridge ~ #14 Daiichi 1480 ~ thread: camel UNI 8/0 ~ hackle: partridge ~ rib: fine silver wire ~ body: copper tinsel ~ thorax: hares mask |
 |
| Partridge & Orange |
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