10/7/03

2 Quotes from today's reading are:  "If it looks like a fight is coming, get in the first punch. Then you are one big punch ahead when the fight starts"  pg. 8

"It is an art that is performed on a four-count rhythm between ten and two o'clock"  It is talking about the technique of fly fishing.  Pg. 2

Paul and Norman in some ways remind me of my brother and I.  Paul would be like my brother because he likes to bet and doesn't like to work, and I am like Norman and always work.  When we were young my dad took us fishing just like their dad.  But in the end my brother prefers to fish more than  I, just like Paul.  Our mother was also the one who always stopped the fighting.

** Paul said " a small bet on the side just to make things interesting"

QUESTIONS:  How is Fly-fishing different than normal fishing?  What are angleworms?

10/7/03

Quotes: " At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear" Pg. 28

"Rhythm was just as important as color and just as complicated"  Rhythm is used during fly fishing and color is referring to the canyon. Pg.21

Today's personal connection was when Paul punched the guy for saying something about his girlfriend.  My brother would do the same thing for me if someone said something about me.  

Questions:  Who is Black Jack, and what is his freight car for?

Why is Neal dressed so weird?  Is that the style in Wolf Creek?

10/9/03

Quotes: "He was one of those who need to be caught telling a lie while he is telling it." This is referring to Neal and how he lies so much. Pg. 32

"The Elkhorn and the Brown Trout are also alike in being beautiful by being partly ugly"  Pg. 41

"One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself and watch yourself softly becoming the author of something beautiful"  Norman is referring to his good cast.  Pg. 43

"That's one trouble with hanging around a master--you pick up some of his stuff, but you use it just when the master is doing the opposite"  Norman is talking of Paul right after he took Paul's old advice. Pg. 45

In this section Norman reminded me of me, because he isn't in a hurry, and is laid back.  He enjoys just walking looking at the scenery. 

Questions:  When it says Ken was friendly with all 111 inhabitants of Wolf Creek. Does that mean there are 111 people living there?

What is meant by this: The Elk horn looks just like what it is--a crack in the earth to mark where the Rocky Mountains end and the Great Plains begin?

10/10/03

Quotes: " I felt that at the same time I was both halves of myself and a sweat bath and a cold river and about to die" pg. 49 

"In Montana drinking beer does not count as drinking" pg. 56

" In quiet evening water everything must be perfect because, with the glare from the sun gone, the fish can see everything, so even a few hairs too many in the tail of the fly can make all the difference"  Pg. 63

Norman in these pages reminds me how I act sometimes in front of my brother.  I never want to quit early and make him look down on me.  I want to empress him by doing more, like Norman did when he went to catch more fish.

What does Norman mean when he says they "read the river"? And that it is much easier to read the waters of tragedy?  Pg. 63 and pg. 64

Why won't Paul quit without getting his limit every single time he fishes?

10/11/03

Quotes: "That's what we mean by original sin--we we don't have to do it to know about it" Pg. 75

"I want to take another look so I always remember" Pg. 67

When Old Rawhide and Neal got burnt I could picture how that must have felt.  I got burnt so bad one time that it hurt to sleep or do anything.

What does it mean when Paul says "May he get three doses of clap, and may he recover from all but the first"? Pg. 68

"Why would you have LOVE tattooed on your butt?

10/12/03

Quotes:  "Lets fish together today" pg. 85

"My general impression was that marine life had turned into a rodeo" Pg. 87

There was a section in the reading that Norman realized that when things got tough for Paul, Paul would look for himself to get out of trouble.  Knowing this he worked harder to achieve things that he wanted to do, and he would work harder for himself instead of giving up and depending on other people.

If Paul is the better fishermen than why does Norman have the better flies?

What is the difference between Scottish Lowlanders and Islanders? Pg. 81

10/13/03

Quotes:  " I used to think water was first, but if you listen carefully you will hear that the words are underneath the water"  Pg. 95

" When we saw him catch his last fish, we never saw the fish but only the artistry of the fishermen" Pg. 100

" A river, though, has so many things to say that it is hard to know what it says to each of us" Pg. 102

" It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us" Pg. 104

"I am haunted by waters" pg. 104

In the reading the Dad threw a rock to prevent Paul from catching a fish where he didn't catch one.  This reminds me of something my dad would do because he doesn't want to admit we can do something better than him.

Who killed Paul and why?

Why is it good that all his bones in his hand were broken?