Tag Archives: Slate Run

Ten Years On, Still Learning

Posted on October 19, 2021 by rivertoprambles

Rivertop Rambles debuted 29 October 2011 with a short narrative commencing my Slate Run Odyssey series and the quiet start of a 10-year journey with this blog. I was certainly new to the game a decade ago and, frankly, I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged anniversary, blogging, celebration, education, fishing, odyssey, Rivertop Rambles, Slate Run, ten years on, writing | 29 Comments

Strange Fruit and Other Start-Ups

Posted on July 24, 2020 by rivertoprambles

1. I had a couple of non-related flashbacks to the late 1980s. In the first one I recalled a winter night, trundling off to a movie at Alfred U., in which our four-month-old son experienced his first theater production. Woody … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bananas, family, flashbacks, hiking, history, humor, literature, Lyman Run, nature, Slate Run, trout, Woody Allen, writing | 16 Comments

Autumn Letter

Posted on November 11, 2019 by rivertoprambles

The day begins like a sheet of paper waiting for words. Its composition won’t go digital until later, when darkness comes again. Two bald eagles sit together on a carcass near the road as I go speeding by, wishing I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bob Dylan, composition, Egg, fishing, football, friendship, Henry James, hooks, letters, nature, poetry, Slate Run, trout flies, Walt Franklin, writing | 18 Comments

Gray Hair and Grizzly Hackle

Posted on September 18, 2019 by rivertoprambles

Ever since I joined several outdoor organizations and started to attend their regular meetings in the 1990s, I’ve been hearing a general complaint: Look around this room. Our hair is gray. We need some younger people, bright new faces interested … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged activism, brown trout, commentary, community, environment, fishing, nature, poetry, Slate Run, society, Time, Walt Franklin, writing, youth | 18 Comments

The Break-Off

Posted on September 6, 2018 by rivertoprambles

The afternoon was hot and humid. The long holiday weekend was coming to a close; the family gathering had been energizing and fun. It was time, now, to bid farewell to the summer season with an hour or two of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bamboo fly rods, Chester fly rods, environment, fishing, fly-fishing, nature, seasons, Slate Run, travel, Walt Franklin, wild trout, writing | 12 Comments

Against the Dying Light

Posted on November 15, 2017 by rivertoprambles

I won’t need to rage against the dying of the light, per Dylan Thomas and his fine poetics. I won’t need to rage because I’ve done all that (for now) in private moments, and my purpose here is really very … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged autumn, Black Forest, darkness, Fall Creek, fishing, Ithaca NY, landlocked salmon, light, luck, Penn's Woods, photography, poetry, rage, Slate Run, Sun, Walt Franklin | 24 Comments

Joe Pye’s Invitation

Posted on September 21, 2017 by rivertoprambles

The clouds were building over Cedar Run and its forested gorge. The afternon was looking good for fishing in the low clear water but the trout weren’t having anything to do with the several small flies that I offered them. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cedar Run, creative writing, fly-fishing, good luck, Joe Pye, Joe-Pye-weed, narratives, nature, September photos, Slate Run, vanilla, Walt Franklin, wild trout, wildflowers | 18 Comments

The Rough Country

Posted on June 28, 2017 by rivertoprambles

Whether we enjoy the notion or not, everyone who strives for well-being needs to stay in contact with the wild. Such contact is readily attained in sanctified places like our state and national parks, but we can’t always reach those … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Apple Tree Hollow, exploration, Gary Paul Nabhan, hiking, humanity, Life, nature, rough country, Slate Run, timber rattlesnake, trout fishing, wild | 22 Comments

Good Days

Posted on June 1, 2017 by rivertoprambles

I prepared for the long holiday weekend by assisting middle-school students in the planting of flags at the gravesites of veterans and fallen soldiers. The Veterans Administration Cemetery at Bath, N.Y. is a huge place, with thousands of gravestones on … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Brown Drake, environment, family, fly-fishing, good days, holidays, Letchworth State Park, mayflies, nature, photography, Pine Creek, Slate Run, veterans, waterfalls, writing | 24 Comments

Staircase Run

Posted on May 16, 2017 by rivertoprambles

The day surely started out on a bright note– a little birding in the early morning sunshine of the yard, my small binoculars picking up a bit of the warblers waving through– Blackburnian, black-throated green, ovenbird, Louisiana water-thrush and, later, the black-throated blue warbler– … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged birding, Cedar Run, environment, fishing, fly-fishing, headwaters, hiking, nature, Pennsylvania, ravines, Slate Run, small streams, staircase, trout, wild, world view | 18 Comments