It takes a good book

I travel quite a bit, and eventually everything goes south, so to speak. This week included one such trip - taking 24 hours to get from Nashville to Blue Point. No big deal really; it happens and I survived. One good long night of catch-up sleep and all is good. The trick, however is remain sane during the trials of a trip like this. Rudy Guliani once said that when everything is going crazy around him he simply tries to be the calmest guy in the room. Although that is not really in my nature, I do try to achieve it. Even when the pilot violently aborts a landing moments before touch down in dense fog in Charlotte.

One of my weapons against insanity during this trip was simply reading about fly fishing-in this case I was reading John Gierach's Fool's Paradise. Grace and I have read all of his books over the years and have always loved how he is always able to capture the true nature of the sport - mainly how it us more than just the fishing, but fishing is everything. But he does it with near perfect sense of comedic timing, lulling you into a warm sense of quiet atmosphere and then casting a zinger at you, causing the reader to laugh out loud, even on a crowded plane with weary passengers.

One particular line caused me to laugh. After spending an entire chapter describing the misery (and joy?) of fishing alone in winter, with freezing hands and gear, he closes the final paragraph with the simple line 'I wonder what all the stupid people are doing for fun.' That got me through an hour or two of travel with reduced blood pressure.

I have been reading this book one chapter at a time, as an ebook on my iPhone which is to say that it is always with me ready to provide a moment of relief. In my opinion, it is one of the most compelling reasons to read a good book. I am sorry to say that I have finished Fool's Paradise and fear I may be a few books away from another book which provides just the right medicine, right when I need it.