Seasonal Transitions

Top left: John's first swim of 2011
Top right: The martini at Cafe Max
Below: First trout of 2011!


This is a season of transitions on all three coasts.

With the hard winter, it’s tempting to wish your way into the future, hoping for steady warm weather. However, I am finding it’s more fun to just take every day as it comes and find something to enjoy regardless.

The weather on all three coasts is bouncing back and forth between hot and cold and many temperatures in between.

On Easter Sunday, I took my first swim of 2011 - - and my earliest planned swim of my life. My earliest unplanned swim occurred on April 15, 1987, 1988 or 1989 after I tripped and fell into the Battenkill.

The water on Easter was cold but not as cold as the Christmas Day swim. Instead of wading in gradually and losing resolve, I dove right in.

This is a good time to visit the Hamptons. The place is starting to come alive for the summer but the nutty crowds have not yet taken over the place. At Café Max, on Easter Sunday, we had no trouble getting a reservation for brunch. The food was great and Max’s bartender served up a martini big enough to end the drought in Russia.

Further to the north and to the west, trout fishing has been enjoyable. The water is warming up. In upstate New York, the black flies are just starting to come out.

From Los Angeles, reports are coming in of good fishing surprisingly close to the City. A friend came back from a trip recently after having caught a 15 inch brown trout on a fly in a tiny creek. That must have been a pleasant surprise.

The other noteworthy news from the West Coast comes from the Pasadena Casting Club (PCC). The casting pool at the Club has been deteriorating for many years. This year, the restoration of the casting pool is nearly complete. A grand opening is scheduled for Saturday May 7th. From 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., you can enjoy refreshments in the PCC clubhouse. At 11 a.m. Mayor William Bogaard, Councilman Steven Madison and PCC officials will cut the ribbon to reopen the casting pool and afterwards members and the public are invited to practice their fly fishing skills.