Tag Archives: art

Photos, Art and Nature

Posted on June 11, 2022 by rivertoprambles

Few words today, as I reflect on the activities of the past few weeks and look forward to my rapidly approaching trip to Newfoundland. With luck, I may have some interesting reflections to share with you from that Atlantic province … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, birds, birdwatching, folk art, nature, photos, Pittsburgh, transitions, travel, trout | 20 Comments

Reflections on a Gentle Art

Posted on June 19, 2020 by rivertoprambles

The Genesee River near Shongo, New York was flowing weakly and with water almost too warm for trout survival. I found a stretch of river cool enough for an evening of fly fishing and began hooking and releasing hatchery … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, Catskill rivers, Catskills, Crete, dry flies, fly-fishing, Genesee, Greece, Minoan, nature, reading, trout rivers, Walt Franklin, writing | 16 Comments

Wild Chemung

Posted on January 22, 2020 by rivertoprambles

1. Trails. Chemung– a river in the large Susquehanna watershed of New York State and Pennsylvania. A place of towns and cities, Corning and Elmira, linked to farm communities, even to pockets of wildness, vestiges of pre-colonial America. Looking back– … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, Chemung, diversity, human nature, outdoor narrative, poetry, sexuality, tales, taverns, touring, wildness, writing | 15 Comments

Between the Streams

Posted on May 10, 2018 by rivertoprambles

There have been a lot of ups and downs here since the last post on Rivertop Rambles. I spent six days fishing in the Blue Ridge out of 10 days in Virginia, boulder hopping, climbing streams like Cedar Run, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, between the streams, birds, Blue Ridge, brookies, family, fishing, hiking, home place, Monticello, music, the Residents, Time, Washington D.C., wildflowers | 18 Comments

It Came From a Dream

Posted on April 3, 2018 by rivertoprambles

There’s nothing like a wild free-flowing run… The statement seemed so obvious to me that I almost disregarded it. I was in Rhode Island for several days, enjoying myself but absent from the Opening Day of Trout Season in New … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, clamming, dream, environment, family, fly-fishing, imagination, mansions, nature, Newport, opening day, reality, Rhode Island, small streams, wildness, writing | 10 Comments

Old Woodenhead Skates on Thin Ice

Posted on December 15, 2017 by rivertoprambles

Old Woodenhead was on the Allegheny River by noon. The weather had become more seasonal, turning sharply colder, with air temperatures peaking at less than the freezing mark. Winter fly-fishing is an exercise in patience and layered clothing, he thought. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Allegheny, art, brown trout, Christmas, fly-fishing, holidays, Old Woodenhead, photography, reality, Walt Franklin, winter, writing | 21 Comments

The Inspection Sticker (“He Won’t Get Drunk No More”)

Posted on February 18, 2016 by rivertoprambles

[Please stand by… My annually renewed “Inspection Sticker” for this blog, the sticker that assures safe rambling for one and all, has run its course. I’m off track as the winter season bottoms out and I’m forced to stay inside. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1960s, alcohol, art, bar, drunkenness, fiction, friendship, garage, Holy Modal Rounders, humor, introspection, music, nature, photography, The Ventures, writing, youth | 14 Comments

The Sixties (Deja Vu, Again)

Posted on February 17, 2015 by rivertoprambles

[The rivertop freeze is taking its sweet time to unbuckle and depart. Not much I can do about it except to keep piling on the wood, and to write. Fly fishing? It’ll be a while. But this is a workingman/woman’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, Beatles, creativity, drugs, LaCrosse Wisconsin, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, peace, pop music, prog music, reflection, rites of passage, rock 'n' roll, self-education, sex, Sixties, social protest, Time, Vietnam War, vinyl records | 17 Comments

Self-Portrait at Zero Degrees

Posted on January 17, 2015 by rivertoprambles

“They say the working class is dead, we’re all consumers now/ They say that we have moved ahead, we’re all just people now/ There’s people doing ‘frightfully well,’ there’s others on the shelf/ But never mind the second kind, this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged age of self, art, capitalism, castles built on sand, music, nature, Robert Wyatt, self-portrait, selfie, socialism, wood, writing | 12 Comments

Water Nymphs

Posted on October 27, 2014 by rivertoprambles

Most fly-fishermen are aware of “nymphs,” the immature stage of numerous insects that develop in the water. Many anglers fly-fish with a “nymph,” often allowing their imitative lure to drift along the current of a stream or river at some … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ancient Greeks, art, fly-fishing, Isonychia bicolor, mythology, Naiads, nymphing, nymphs, spirits, worship | 17 Comments