How it feels

[Oldfart9999]

Tomorrow I go to pain management for my, most likely cortisone shots, as I've been laid up for the past several months I started looking at one of my old hobbies, woodworking. When I got into it I had plans on making some furniture for the house, I bought a quality table saw, jointer, band saw, planer and a few other things. I did make some items and to be honest, they came out quite well, I'm proud of what I made. I was doing this in the basement. Because of the dampness it became very frustrating doing anything, I'd just get going on a project, the wood would be acclimated then a storm would come through, the damp basement would cause the wood to move and i'd have to wait for several months, I just stopped.
I started picking up issues of Fine Woodworking, the premier magazine on woodworking, I was feeling the itch. I started sitting at a bench in the basement and slowly going through my tools, I also cleaned my table saw and bandsaw. The planes came out, made sure the rust was taken care of, sharpened and honed the blades and now they're ready, took care of my chisels and decided that when I could I would get back to making saw dust and shavings, mostly with hand tools.
Now you may be wondering what this has to do with "How it feels", you know the feel of moving a lure like a jig or worm through grass, the caress of each blade, the stop then up and down going over a small log, the thump of hitting a rock. You know the feel of not weight, not a bite, but something different, the joy when you lip the bass and bring it up and look at it, sure you do and a big smile graces your face.
Picture the feel of a sharp blade from a plane or a chisel cutting smoothly through a piece of walnut, the changes when you come to a figured spot in the wood, the caress of a scraper blade leaving a silky smooth paper, don't need much sandpaper. The change when you start going with the grain to against the grain and the joy of having a blade, chisel or plane, that you sharpened and honed cutting the changes and leaving a smooth, ready to finish surface. it's tactil, it's primitive and no machine can give it to you, and you have the pleasure of perfect fitting joints that no machine can equal.
There are a lot of similarities, I know, I've experienced both, with jigs I made, and planes and chisels I made ready.
Next time you're out close your eyes and see if you can feel the changes as you bring a bait back to you, notice how the reel feels, the difference between just cleaned and tuned versus needing cleaning, what LMG and Mike feel. Take the time to revel in the feel of the breeze, the sun on your face, the rain hitting you. Take the time to delve into the world of your senses and the joy that comes with it.
Rodney 

[FloridaFishinFool]

Next time you're out close your eyes and see if you can feel the changes as you bring a bait back to you, notice how the reel feels, the difference between just cleaned and tuned versus needing cleaning, what LMG and Mike feel. Take the time to revel in the feel of the breeze, the sun on your face, the rain hitting you. Take the time to delve into the world of your senses and the joy that comes with it.
Rodney

I close my eyes all the time Rodney to feel the equipment and lure movements. It really helps in the patience dept.

God bless on the pain Rodney!

[Lipripper]

Good read Rodney and having been a carpenter and working with wood for many years I know that feeling your talking about. FFF I don't close my eyes but I learned how to tune everything else around me out and think and feel what the bait is doing.

[Stren_g]

Good read Rodney, There's several things that can go hand in hand with that "feeling". Not taking time to notice is the difference between someone who just does things and someone who loves doing things. It's not all about the end result. It's the whole experience.

[zippyduck]

Excellent read!