Bahama Surprise
I opened a jar of cadmium red acrylic paint and scooped out a bit for my palette. Red mixed with white, blue, and a little yellow is a good base color for painting the cheek plates on a Madison River rainbow.
I slowly worked the colors until glowing crimson cheeks emerged from the brown speckled olive background. I was working on River King, one of a series of large trout head paintings. After eight hours of painting it was a good time to wash the brushes and continue the next day.
On the way home my fishing dog and I stopped at the market for a chicken. As we walked in the front door at home, my wife Lexi said, “Hey, Mr. Lucky, you are going to the Bahamas with Dan Delekta from the Beartooth Fly Fishing Lodge. He is building a new lodge on Andros Island and would like one of your paintings for the main room.”
The next day, while in a Bahamas daze, I was off to Bozeman to get a passport in time for the trip. After several stops at the post office and court house I had my photo taken and the passport was in progress.
In the three weeks before I was to leave Bozeman on the big silver wings of United, I heard stories of the ghost of the flats and toothy predator barracuda crunching flies into bits of nothingness. Turquoise water and ocean songs glimmered in my dreams.
Days streaked by turning into weeks. New space age fly tying materials and stainless steel hooks began to appear on my fly tying bench. Flies with barbell eyes and crystal flash fired up my new fly box.
Aqua, limon starboard, driftwooed, and skyrocket became familiar color names as I looked at shirts and wading pants for the saltwater journey. Lexi and I drove to the Beartooth Fly Fishing Lodge which has a great fly shop stocked with the largest and most unique selection of flies in Southwestern Montana. Nancy Delekta helped me pick out last minute items such as wading sandals and sunglasses.
The next day Lexi drove me to Bozeman and I hugged her good bye. It had been awhile since I had been in airports so I took a deep breath and followed the signs to United.
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Copyright © Bern Sundell 2007. All Rights Reserved.
