May 3, 2020

We were close, so close; but unfortunately, there was no cigar involved, no champagne. On April 30th, the Governor of New Mexico announced that the Great Land of Enchantment would be opening all State Parks for day use, effective May 1st. Sure enough, within the hour after the announcement, we received a phone from local park authorities, confirming that we would now be able to fish again between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., only to receive another phone call 30 minutes later that the reopening would not apply to Navajo Dam State Park, due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in the area. So there you have it. I'm just glad I didn't pop the cork on that bottle, because there's no putting it back in at that point. So when will this change? Well, that's uncertain, but I would guess that it won't happen until we start to see a dramatic decrease in the number of cases of this virus in our county and surrounding counties, which at present, are leading all other counties in the state. Now, I know we all want to fish and that's important, but what's more important, is your health and the health of others. Let's be patient, we'll get there, right now let's just focus on staying alive and healthy to fish another day.

It's a total bummer, for sure, but what are you gonna do? I'm just thankful that there only a limited number of people that have my cell phone number so I don't have to continue to get these daily, "Are we there yet?" texts and calls, like kids in the backseat headed to Wally World on vacation. If it's any consolation, just keep on thinking how good the fishing here will be when we finally get a crack at all those fish that haven't seen a fly in months. Your eyes are gonna pop out like John Garfield when he first saw Lana Turner in that little white outfit in, The Postman Always Rings Twice. Waiting is hard, I know. Right now, I'd give $100 of my stimulus check to just look at the Texas Hole for five minutes from one of those handicap ramps, $50 more, if they'd throw in the Kiddie Hole. Thankfully it's turkey season here, so that at least gives me something to do. Between all my time in the woods with the birds and my time at home with the dog, I realized that lately I've been spending way more time around animals than people, which ain't such a bad thing, all things considered. Keep the faith, brothers and sisters, we'll get there. In the meantime, I just stand on my back porch and stare at the beautiful New Mexico sunsets with a margarita in my hand, listen to a little Miles Davis or Charlie Parker, and just like the rest of you, I wonder, "What the hell is going on here," hopin' that the world don't end before I get the chance to go fishin' again.