Steve Ramirez's Blog, page 8
February 6, 2023
Artifacts we Leave Behind as Gifts to Whomever may Find them...
“When I decided to leave my job, I went fishing and never looked back. I went fishing in part because I knew that the rivers and the hills could teach me the truths I once knew and had forgotten. I went fishing because I knew that rising trout and singing warblers have wisdom, and because for the first time in my life, I knew all the things that I never wanted to do again, and all the places I never wanted to be, and all the people I never wanted to be around. I knew that life was too damn precious and fleeting for meaningless meetings and malignant greetings. I knew that from this moment on, I wanted to be free, feral, authentic . . . even revolutionary in my pursuit of a life worth living. I went fishing because it causes me to feel alive, and because the life that I was walking away from was draining my soul and killing my passion, little by little, irrevocably.”
~ Steve Ramirez, from Casting Onward
It's 30 degrees outside in the Texas Hill Country, on its way into the 20s and reportedly with a good chance of snow tonight. I wanted some cold weather so that we could have the feeling of winter, and for a few days, my wish came true. A fire in the fireplace and a glass of wine in my hand... magical.
It's important to take care of others as we take care of ourselves.
So, I made sure to break the ice on the bird bath and fill the feeders and stack up the brush pile and even open my greenhouse incase they needed shelter.
I love them - they are the extended family I never had.
Life is beautiful when we give of ourselves for others. I try to lead a beautiful life.
This book and the stories within it are all about living a beautiful life - no matter what life gives you.
There is a lot of fishing in them and no small amount of hiking... but the stories are about Living.
I thought recently about my younger self working hard to do what we are all told we are supposed to do... I had the corner office and the nice salary with medical, dental, and all that. I had muti-million dollar budgets and all the heart ache that comes with a "real job." And I wasn't even sure that I wanted to keep on keeping on. Only my love of my little family and of nature itself kept me going.
From the point of view of "the world" where "success" is gauged by the money you earn - I was an unhappy success.
Now... if money is the national goal, I guess I'd be labeled an happy failure.
But oh... there is no failure in a joyful, meaningful, life. I am doing exactly what I want to do - living a life worth living.
I hope people will choose to read my stories... not because anything about me in important - it's not... but rather, because I believe what they say about US... is important.
My journey is our journey.
If we don't find our way soon, the journey will end all too soon as well.
I threw myself forward into uncertainty to write Casting Onward. It was worth it.
I hope you or someone you love finds it worth the read. Writing is born when it's been read and found meaningful.
I want my "children" to do some good in this human world.
Namaste' Y'all...
Live and Love Vastly.... Please.
Ambassador for Texas at the American Museum of Fly Fishing
I am so honored to be the Ambassador for Texas at the American Museum of Fly Fishing.
If you have not learned of this wonderful organization please do consider checking it out... visiting if you can... supporting it, if you wish. I am planning a visit as part of my fourth book in the Lyons Press "Casting Series."
My friend Sarah Foster is the Executive Director and she and her staff work tirelessly in support of the museum and it's mission. As a museum, it is of course deeply involved in the preservation and promotion of the human and technological history of fly fishing. but the AMFF is also involved in promoting our present artistic and altruistic works related to fly fishing, conservation, and the conservation of the human spirit via the act of fly fishing and investing time in nature.
I believe that this way of life that so many of us have come to feel as intrinsic to our well-being, is and should be evolving with the conditions we now find ourselves in - including humanity’s self-inflicted wounds upon the Earth and each other such as: war, crime, human overpopulations and consumption, toxic pollution of our environment, climate change and the things it brings with it such as drought, flood, extreme weather, sea-level rise, the acidification of our rivers and oceans, and the mass extinction of native species.
We also suffer an unprecedented amount of people suffering from PTSD, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and disconnection from any sense of community with other humans, or with nature itself. And I am convinced that the world we’ve created has led to the personal suffering of individuals.
Fly fishing is not a cure for all these unhealthy and challenging issues… but it is a community that can evolve into an example of "better" and more healthy lifestyles where humans and nature coexist as partners.
That's a tall order - like all things that matter are...but it's not insurmountable.
The AMFF can in my view be one part of this process of moving our way of living from consumptive and extractive to mutually beneficial and healthy.
Again, I'm pleased to be a small part of this organization, and wanted to share those thoughts with you - my faraway friends.
Keep Casting Forward!
~ Steve
January 25, 2023
Just Sharing... My newest travel buddy....
Today was my first day to be working at my writer's desk with my new writing buddy... I've been considering what her name is - (and she is a she). So far I have referred to her as "Miss Adventure" because she will be traveling with me this year from Texas to Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and back home to Texas... and that's just the adventures I've planned for us as I write another book!
And I must admit that I like the double entendre of "Miss Adventure" and misadventure.
After all, I am launching on all these journeys with my "evolving asthma," apnea, heart disease and PTSD - on my! (rolling my eyes and laughing now...life is too funny.)
I'm not worried - not a bit.
As I have joked with my doctors, friends, and family - "I will overcome all of this or die trying!"
Besides, life has been taunting me since birth.
I've had people try to shoot me, stab me, poison me, and blow me up.
I've been surrounded by rouge soldiers in the rainforest of West Africa, by lions in East Africa and by drug smugglers in Florida.
I've survived an African fever in Kenya, malaria in the Ivory Coast, elevation sickness in Peru and nitrogen sickness while deep diving in the Caribbean.
I've been bitten by a rattlesnake, stomped on by the bull I was riding in a rodeo and even had to chase off the one aggressive shark I've ever encountered out of many - grateful that I was armed with me 357 magnum powerhead while scuba diving 90 feet below the surface of the sea.
It's been a wonderfully interesting life - so far.
And I have the feeling that Miss Adventure and I will have many new adventures together. I can hardly wait to discover the stories we will write together!
January 19, 2023
The Power of being One…
"I believe we have a guide within; we are not alone but are part of a vaster reality that we do not see with our eyes but can sense with an open heart."
~ Federico Faggin, physicist
Since childhood, I’ve know that I am “different.”
Sometimes I've been told that I’m “too much.”
And there are people who find me unsettling and seem to apply definitions to me that for me – are more reflections of where they are in their spiritual evolution than where I am in mine - but that too may be a reflection. And that is not a criticism – just an imperfect observation that like all observations is limited by my own perspective, understanding, lack of understanding, and ability to SEE and not just see.
For a long time, I found it hard – being different.
It’s lonely. (Don't we all feel this way sometimes?)
It's why I've always made friends with songbirds and lizards and trees and rivers.
They tend to accept me as I am and even understand me.
I have wonderful conversations with warblers.
It’s constricting to try to fit into a world of fixed and solid shapes when you’re more of a flowing thing – like a river.
Sometimes I act more “lake like” - quiet and thoughtful.
But in truth, I am always on the edge of overflowing my cultural embankments.
And I refuse to be a canal.
The books and essays I write are not just a series of fishing and outdoor adventure stories – not that there is anything wrong with that.
They are more like an amalgam of ancient petroglyphs and space born signals with a hint of scripture written in the margins of a love letter.
What is important to me is the depth of the positive impact I might make in the lives of others and in the way we treat each other and the world.
I’m a tiny star in a vast night sky.
In no time as all, my light will fade and transform into another light – again and again.
But in this moment in time, I hope my words and images reach you, and that you chose to share them with others…after all, love letters tied to tumble weeds have little value – unless they are discovered and read and understood.
It’s a soul-thing.
Namaste’ Y’all!
Nothing but Love, Kindness, Courage, and Wisdom
Keep Casting Forward!
January 17, 2023
The Years Ahead…
“When I think of all the time I have spent in this finite life, sitting in meeting with academics, politicians, and other blowhards, listening to inflated egos pontificate at length about the grand value of nothing, I become overwhelmed with a mixture of ironic amusement and idiotic regret. After all, I could have been fishing.
~ Steve Ramirez, from Casting Onward
I’m so damn grateful for my current life. It’s so much more true to myself than the one behind me… although I guess I was always true to myself – it’s just that I most often did not fit in as part of the artificial, superficial, and all too often toxic worlds that I was forced to exist within.
I try to never look back – except to learn and grow. I learn, I adapt, I move on.
Now, I am living life on my terms.
I wake to coffee and songbirds and take walks in the canyon when it calls to me.
I cast my line in solitude or beside a dear soul with whom I feel fortunate to share the day with.
I have weekend dates with my wife of 40 years and daily e-conversations with my dearest friends. (How deeply I wish they could be in person…)
And that brings me to another point of clarity.
When I say that I’m so damn grateful for my current life – it’s not because everything is how I’d wish it to be.
It’s because I simply wish to be grateful for what is, and I take action to create what isn’t, and I make choices to exclude what should not be. Does that make sense to you? I hope so.
My house is not the house I’ve dreamed of and it’s not in the country side that I’ve envisioned ever since I was a boy. I don’t have the financial resources I’d chose to have it I could, and my health is not all that it could be. But life and the world is not what we want it to be... it is what it is, and all we can do is count our blessing and adapt to and overcome our burdens – or chose to pay them no mind.
So, things aren’t all that I wished they were – If I wasted any time wishing for something else. I don’t.
Some of those dreams can still come true. I will act to make them come true.And some, really don’t matter. I will let go of them.
Over the next year and a half I will be venturing forward as I write my fourth book in my Lyons Press Casting Forward Series. (I am a fortunate man, indeed.)
Some of you will adventure forward with me in person and some will do so vicariously as you read the book. Both are beautiful gifts.
Life is good and also – it is what we make of it.
Each morning, I choose to be grateful. That sets the tone of each day- even more than “Sunrise yoga.” (Yes, I do practice Yoga… Imperfectly.)
My writing is not just a collection of outdoor adventure stories... it is a conversation about Life and Living. We travel together.
Namaste’ Y’all…
January 12, 2023
Rainy Morning Thoughts of an Imperfect Texan Buddha and Warrior -Poet
“I stood there, without even casting and with no trout rising, and as the water rushed past me, I knew it was washing my burdens behind me, swirling them downstream like the autumn leaves.”
~ Steve Ramirez, Casting Forward
Just yesterday a friend from Montana called to wish me a happy New Year and she asked me, “What is the one thing you most wish for in 2023?” I answered without hesitation, “To be alive throughout the year.” I simply Love being alive. Life itself is magical. And there are no guarantees on how long our drift will last on this ever-changing river. All we have is now. I love all of my “children.” Each of my three books and even the fourth one that I began writing just the other day – are uniquely special to me and reading them reminds me of those times and places and people that have added magic and memories to my humble life. In fact, after the first answer I gave to my friend’s question I gave one that was a bit more practical and less ethereal. I said, “I want to hold my first copy of Casting Seaward in my hand once it come out in April. And, that will be a special moment, indeed. Still, I have to say that my life is full of special moments – and so is yours if you pay attention with a sense of open acceptance and gratitude. So with that in mind, I need to add that also on April 1st, my first book, Casting Forward will be making is debut in paperback. I guess this will be like having one of your children grow up, go to college, and then return home – changed but still the same soul you originally loved. I’m looking forward to holding a paperback copy of Casting Forward in my hand too… with bittersweet feelings. There will be no more hardcover copies available once the last few find their new homes. (If you ever think you might want it in hard cover for yourself or to give to a loved one… it’s now or never.)But it has lived in that form through three printings, and it’s time for it to be “grown up” yet still youthful in its timelessness. My friend from Montana who asked me that question has a father who will turn 100 years old in a few weeks. She told me that he likes to say, “I’m not growing old; I’m growing older.” Well… same here only, I also feel like I’m growing more childlike. I notice every little simple pleasure and I guess, there’s nothing better that I can possibly wish for, in the New Year – and always.
Namaste’ Y’all…
November 14, 2022
Join me and my dear friend - renowned artist/writer, Bob White at Alaska Trophy Lodge!
I want to extend an invitation to any of you who wish to join me and my dear friend - renowned artist, writer, guide, and all-around great guy, Bob White in early June of 2023 at Alaska Trophy Lodge on the legendary Alagnak River.
Join us for a week of amazing fishing, wilderness adventure, and camaraderie. (See the Link Below.)
Bob will be sharing insights into his process of painting and I will be sharing my own process of writing and will share a few readings from all three books: Casting Forward, Casting Onward, and Casting Seaward. In-fact, this trip may well end up within the pages of my next book!
Most of all, we will have a great time making once in a lifetime memories in a truly beauitful natural landscape. Hope to see you there!
October 18, 2022
Signed Copies of Casting Forward and Casting Onward!
Just Sharing.... It’s such I wonderful surprise to walk into my local Barnes & Noble Book Store and find this nice display of books I had recently signed while at the Boerne Art & Book Festival. So if you are local to the San Antonio area B & N at La Cantera has signed copies of both books.
And just so you know, these are the last remaining hardcover copies of Casting Forward. There will be no more copies at my publisher’s warehouse so once the current inventory at book sellers is gone… that’s all there is Forever. I bought extra copies for myself. The paperback is being bound for distribution now.
I wrote these and my amazing editor and I designed the covers so that they would make a beauitful set/collection of hardcover books. Each book "fits" together. I don't have any say in how the paperback will look and besides... it's just not the same.
So if you have any inclination that you will want to own or gift a set of these books, Casting Forward is running low on inventory. It's had a great run with three hardcover printings since its release on November 1st of 2020. I am truly grateful.
Keep Casting Forward Y'all!
October 12, 2022
Morning Thoughts of an Imperfect Texan Buddha and Warrior -Poet
“What if our religion was each other? If forests were our church? If holy water—the rivers, lakes and oceans? If prayer was our words? What if the Temple was the Earth? If our practice was our life?What if meditation was our relationships?If the Teacher was life? If wisdom was self-knowledge?If love was the center of our being."
~ Ganga White
This has always been a favorite quote of mine – and perhaps it is as close as I come to prayer.
I have shard it before, but it seems worth sharing again. I am aware that I often return to these themes: Love, Kindness, Moral Courage, Respect, Responsibility, Resilience, Choices, Wisdom, Empathy, Compassion, and Joy.
Like sunshine and rain, the best things in life need to be revisited often. The pragmatist in me realizes that this little prayer to the universe and suggestion to humanity is unlikely – at best.
But the prophet in me has no problem with imagining a better human world and therefore a better natural world where harmony replaces conflict. A man can dream while he still breathes.
We Homo sapiens have struggled through millennia trying to control each other and the Earth. And we have done both to the same degree that eating a slice of pizza controls hunger. It’s temporary… like everything else. But what if we realized that all we can truly hope to control is our own actions and perspectives? What is the only law and the only religion was encapsulated in the words of Ganga White?
Today I will do as I always do… I will feed the birds and water the plants. I will be kind to those people and other living things I encounter. I will do my best to be brave and hopeful. When I fail, I will try again. And while I do these thing each day, innocent people will be killed in Ukraine, starved in Somalia, and forgotten in America. And While I do these things, the ocean will continue to turn acidic and fill with plastic, the atmosphere will continue to be filled with poison, and the land will continue to be covered in concrete.
All I can do is control my own actions and choices. I can lead by example, as best I can manage. I can use my words and share ideas and stories about living the best life.
I choose Loving- Kindness and Courage. I choose “yes” over “no.” I choose Joy and Gratitude. I hope you do too. Namaste’ Y’all…
