Salmo Fario was a good fisherman who passed away a couple weeks ago. It was him what told me that a real fisherman does not know his home by roads but by water, and that is a fact. Him and me did not actually fish together much b/c I prefer using worms and mice and such for bait and i go after turtles and pickerels, and he was a fly fisherman who tied his own flies out of feathers and he cut the barbs off his hooks and only went for trout. So we did not fish much but when ever we wld run into each other I wld say to myself, "Frank Dodge, that there is a REAL fisherman, and you are just a fellow who catches fish and there is a big difference."
But the last few years Salmo caught some tough breaks and had not been able to fish on account of his arthritis, which gobbled him right up. The last time I seen Salmo was when I stopped by his house a few weeks back to say Hello and he had a hard time getting out of bed or even lifting the covers and I cld tell that he was happy to see me but unhappy for me to see him the way he had got to be which was not the way he used to be atall. He had shrunk abt a foot and was on oxygen and everything. I said "Salmo how are you doing, I have not seen you in a while" and he said, "Frank it does not look like i will ever be able to fish again. That is not the way I thot things wld play out and it just breaks my heart. " And I will tell you what: it kind of broke my heart too.
Now he is gone and I have been sad b/c even tho he was not a friend like some of my other friends are friends like jake and dody and even travis altho he gets on my nerves alot and cpt slow and big tiny and the so on, but Salmo was a friend just the same and a fellow I always respected and admired. He was what you call a straight shooter and if you take a good look around you will see that there are not a lot of them around these days.
So the reason I have not wrote is I have been fairly well busted up abt Salmo. Some times when a person dies it hits you harder than other times. I remember when I worked at the zoo some times one of the animals wld up and die and some times it got to you and some times it did not. Like when that hippo died I was not all busted up. But when that one baby elephant died I was a true enough wreck. Jake and dody say i am just senstive and i spose they are right but that is just the way i am.
But anyway I have figured out abt that owl what was following me around after I rescued it from that mousetrap what Travis had made, which is where i had left off the last time i had wrote. That owl had roosted in the oak tree outside and followed me around for abt a week and then it up and went away. It was not till later that I learned Salmo had been in the hospital and I will tell you what: that owl disappeared at the same time Salmo died.
I just know that owl was Salmo coming to say good bye.
Now I wld not think any thing of this except that last time I saw Salmo I brung him a bunch of owl feathers I had found. Like i said, Salmo tied his own trout flies and I thot he cld use them b/c he told me once if i ever had some really good feathers i shld give them to him and so that is what i did. But his hands were all twisted up from the arthritis and him and me both knew there was not a damn thing he wld be able to do w/ those feathers. But he took them just the same and said he wld do his damndest to tie me some flies and make of me a proper fishermen.
And now I am going to tell you what I found under the oak tree when that owl left. There was three perfect snow white owl feathers right at the bottom of the tree and sitting atop them was a half dozen trout flies all rigged up perfect on hooks what dint have barbs.
Here is one of Gods honest truths as I understand it: the world is a magic place and there is every reason to believe that there are two things that people continue to do after they die, and that is to play baseball and flyfish. And here is another truth: Salmo Fario, I sure do miss the hell out of you.
We all loved you a ton, Salmo Fario. Goodbye from me and Dody and Jake and Travis and Cpt Slow and Oola and Big Tiny and the Petes Turkowski and Sheep 242 and Lumb Decker and the rest of the gang.
But mostly from me, yr loyal friend, Frank Dodge. Good bye.
