Mountain Strong

I'm an avid reader. I practically inhale books. That being said, I'm not a big magazine reader, never have been. Yet I do subscribe to one magazine that I devour rather than inhale. It's the Our State Magazine, and unfailingly it has the most fantastic articles relating to North Carolina. I enjoy reading about places I've been. I also get ideas for new places to go and things to do. The day it arrives in the mail, I hurry through it, flipping to see what is new and exciting and enticing enough to bring me back for a long read over a cup of hot tea.

When October's issue arrived last week, I began the usual page flipping. I soon found that this issue was different. At the top of the cover is the statement, "Special Issue: Healing After Helene" and below the subtitle, "Celebrating North Carolina," in large bold print, are the words MOUNTAIN STRONG. This photo taken by my friend and co-adventurer, Sara, and reinforces how much being strong meant to recovery.

I didn't make it far into the pages before I began mentally dog-earing pages to return to and read later, but when I got to page 174, I stopped dead in my tracks. Sara's photograph was taken at the same place as the location of an article in the magazine. The title drew me in first, "River Reclaimed," and then I saw the pictures. We had been on the very same river back in July and I even blogged about it a few weeks ago. If you didn't get a chance to read it, click on the link and check it out before you read any further so you'll see why I'm so excited to share with you now.

This mountain-strong story featured one of the characters (chapter 39) in my newest book, Southern Fly Tyers. Her name is Kelly McCoy, aka Rivergirl. In my book, she wrote her own biography, and it is dripping with love of river and fly fishing and all things nature. In the magazine article, author Katie Reynolds interviewed her and masterfully captured Kelly's love of river and fly fishing and all things nature. 

Back in July my friend Sara and I went tubing on the New River through Rivergirl Fishing Company, Kelly's company. Sara took this picture of the Rivergirl main building.

See the canoe on the front porch? There's a story behind that canoe as recorded in the article. Here, look at it more closely:

This is a page from the magazine with the canoe's picture taken by staff photographer, David Uttley. I took the other picture of the front of the business the day we were there.

See the heart on the canoe? Kelly painted it there after Hurricane Helene, after she rescued the canoe from the tree that caught it in the flood. It's a reminder that's visible to her every day. Stay strong. Stay safe. You can overcome.

Just like our state!

Catch of the day,

Gretchen

Picture This

An author drives down a country lane and delights in finding a connection to one of her books. That would be me, one day not long ago, on State Road #268, Happy Valley, North Carolina. I was passing by the campus and just had to stop and take a photograph of this sign.  

Cap Wiese was the headmaster at the Patterson School for a number of years in the mid-twentieth century. As a disciplinarian, he used fly fishing as a method of calming hyperactive boys and in the process changing their lives. In his honor, a room has been designated as the Cap Wiese Flyfishing Center. 

I first heard of him when I was compiling information with Ron Beane for our Fly Fishermen of Caldwell County: Life Stories that came out in 2015. Cap's daughter wrote his chapter and titled it "Dean of Fly Fishermen." Much has happened since that book came out, including the creation of this center at Patterson School. He appears again in my newest book, this one with Alen Baker, Southern Fly Tyers: Life Stories of Those Who Tie Flies. He's in Chapter 4 and also in the appendix, page 211.

I took this photograph at the Red Awning Gallery in Hudson where my books are surrounded by the beautiful art of local artisans. This newest book is about art of its own kind. Designing a fly to fool a fish is a skill that should be celebrated. It will be. 

Alen and I are presenting a program about the history of fly tying to the Caldwell County Historical Society on November 6, open to the public. If you think you'll pass on this because you couldn't care less about tying flies, please reconsider. These flies are painstakingly created using everything under the sun, from a rooster feather to the underbelly fur from a dead possum on the side of the road or to styrofoam packaging beads. Talk about creativity! Alen will display containers showing replicas of ancient flies the Cherokee once used here in our Appalachians. 

I have never fly fished in my life. The very idea does not appeal to me at all because these fishers have told me one too many horror stories of being surrounded by forest critters - think bears - or stepping into knee-deep water filled with snakes. I've been a part of five books about fly fishing now, and I've become a true sideline enthusiast, which is where I'll remain for now. I have met the most wonderful group of men and women who care as deeply for the environment as they do the sport. Our world needs them to tell their stories. Join us to hear their stories on that November Thursday evening at the Caldwell Heritage Museum in Lenoir. See you then!

Catch of the day,

Gretchen