It was a warm and hazy day yesterday, with plenty to keep one busy at work and at home. But when someone says "Let's ride out and fish", one ought to do what one needs to do, and that's ride.

Ryan and I got to Thistle Creek at around 4:45, and there was already a truck from Utah County in our spot. That usually produces a groan from me and a request to keep driving from Ryan, but there was nowhere else as good anywhere near, and besides, there had to be enough room for all on the accessable half-mile ribbon of water.

And there was; Ryan had a good day with his wooly bugger/brown midge rig, with numerous hits and at least four out of the water. I tried the same with a purple midge and had two hits, and those might have been snags for all I know. As I pulled my tangled line from the edgewater as the light got too faint to see my cast, I walked over to Ryan with one comment that I could make with confidence, "God was here." That's about it. I wasn't on, and Ryan was, but either way, the stream flowed well.

We were more than halfway to Sportsman's Warehouse, so we flashed up to the south end of Provee to get another tying vise for my fly tying unit in Arts & Humanities at the school. Good grief, but flys were on sale for 79 cents, so we got 'em along with the vise and an extra set of hackle pliers and headed over to Diego's Taqueria for del Pastores before heading back.

And boy, were they good.

But while we ate, there was the matter of this guy with a tie on the corner teevee who talked and talked for people who clapped and clapped. He said our dear soldiers valiantly resisting people who were fighting against democracy in Iraq, which might be the end result, but not the real intent of those people. I only know of people over there, right or wrong, who are for the most part fighting against what they percieve as foreign occupation. I don't really know about anyone fighting against democracy perse, but I have heard of people fighting, again rightfully or not, a religious war against what they see as crusaders from a long history of meddling foreign powers. I heard this guy talk about Americans fighting in Iraq to protect Mom back home, but all I know about is people who are embroiled in difficult situation that might have been avoided had they come home quite a while back, really serving the Iraqi people to bring some sort of rational government, not really protecting Mom by anything but a real stretch of the imagination. I saw audience plants cued as emotional propaganda. This powerful man kept speaking hyperbole about this and that, speaking in absolutes when at the best, conjecture is what I heard. All the man did was hype proposals when the revered title of his speech was simply put as "The State of the Union."

He followed us into the truck on the pre-tuned radio until I asked Ryan if it would be alright if I switched to the iPod.

So, the iPod took us all the way back, to home and hearth and fresh baked cookies, thanks to some who indeed fought or stood to preserve our freedom, not vagaries or euphemism or political agendas, though not to diminish those sacrifices, at all.

Eh. It's just that some plain truth instead of marketing propaganda in public discourse would be nice. In no way does it lessen the honor or sacrifice of those striving and at times, dying, for change.