Big Sky, Open Air

There is something about breathing in fresh mountain air and a cool breeze that glides over open skin and sends goosebump kisses running up and down your arms and legs.  There is a quiet peacefulness when surrounded by nature that heightens the senses and allows for escape into a world without the stresses of everyday life.  I think Montana is such a place. 

I recently embarked on a trip to the state; specifically to visit Glacier National Park where we toured the majestic mountains driving through the winding roads and then we ventured on to a town two hours West where we could partake in Fly Fishing adventures.  We truly live in an amazing and beautiful country where there are cities as grand as New York City, coasts as beautiful as in Southern California, and skies as big and grand as in Montana (clearly I have some bias having lived in two of the aforementioned places). 

Fly fishing was something I had never attempted before.  Actually, fishing was something I had hardly attempted - if you don't count haphazardly thrusting a pole off a dock when I was 10...  We were mostly fishing Rainbow trout and did so from a boat floating down the river.  Learning to cast is like learning to master a pirouette in ballet.  It's the movement of your arm that sends the line gliding out over the water to land just right, tempting the hungry fish below to take a bite.  Like any sport or hobby, there are masters of the craft that can execute a cast without effort and with pristine fluid motions.  I clearly have a lot to learn and practice in fishing as my guide pointed out that my casts were beautiful but I reel in a fish like a linebacker... I'm still deciding if that's a good thing or not.

Fly fishing from the boat was peaceful, challenging, competitive and relaxing all at the same time.  Bald eagles could be spotted from the trees and the few times I actually caught a fish and reeled it in, I couldn't help but marvel at the small animal's brilliant colorful scales.  The fish were all thrown back in the water, watching them swim away was like watching a few glittering sparkles fade into the depths of the water.

When I visit a new place, I often wonder about the people that call it home.  About a different way of life that I would find foreign in practice.  There are obvious differences with how people live abroad in Europe, Asia or Africa.  But there are also differences to the way of life around the U.S.  This obviously came to mind when I looked up at the big open sky in Montana.  The scenery alone was so different from what I am used to looking at every day.  Mountains and beautiful trees that painted the countryside green and reached high until it was met with the blue of the sky.  Fishing and hunting are a way of life and a common undertaking much like shopping on 5th Avenue or hunting for the best new restaurant or eateries is in New York City. 

Whenever I miss California I close my eyes and think of the rolling sound of the surf and the cool ocean breeze that carries salt through the air.  Whenever I miss New York I close my eyes and can hear the cabs rushing down the street, the excited fast pace and movement of people going about their various tasks or the eerily quiet of the city when the snow is falling.  When I am nostalgic for the cool mountain air and the peaceful coexistence of wildlife I'll think of Montana and that big blue open sky.