A Captivating Cast: Fishing for Contentment in Germany's Countryside

"This is the best feeling in the world."

The sun will rise soon. Its light will bring its warmth to the water that’s been here before it was even born.

I’ve tried to capture moments like this, but I’m only setting myself up for disappointment. I’ll never be able to hold onto them long enough to remember them later.

It’s a peaceful morning on the Battenkill river. The fish are resting, and I know they’re going to start waking up soon. That’s how it works in nature. Night gives way to day, and chaos gives way to order. The same thing happens with my thoughts when I wake up from sleep; a dizzying array of images and emotions leave me feeling disoriented and confused. Sometimes the thoughts are so intense that I feel like I can never escape them, no matter what I do. But then I meet my first fish of the day, and all those thoughts disappear into the past. This is the best feeling in the world.

I met some nice people last night at a bar called The Old Crow Inn, which has been here since 1794! It was a nice change of pace from New York City, where there aren’t really any bars left that have been around for more than 30 years or so. Everyone in town seemed to be having a good time, too, celebrating some local festival or something like that. It made for some nice background noise while I fished by myself on the north side of town early this morning when everyone else was still asleep. Now that it’s getting closer to dawn and everyone is starting to wake up again, it might be harder to find some peace and quiet like this again today.

It can be hard sometimes just finding time to slow down and enjoy life, much less find someone who will join you in doing it. After breaking up with my girlfriend last week, though, I think it might be easier now than it used to be. My girlfriend said she wanted more action out of our relationship: more travel together around Europe, more adventure together fishing here at home in New York state, more excitement… Maybe this is what she meant? Or maybe we were just holding each other back from something bigger by staying together? Or were we just two fish out of water who couldn’t breathe outside their own environment? Did we belong together after all?

Who knows? There are too many questions without answers right now… but this moment is perfect as it is: quiet in its perfection; beautiful in its simplicity; strong in its potential for peace and strength amid chaos and weakness. You don’t need answers to every question to appreciate what you have now; you don’t need your whole life figured out before you know what it means not to have all your answers figured out. Sometimes you just have to take one day at a time—like this one—and let things fall into place as they may… especially if you happen upon something as beautiful as this river on such an early morning as this one!