David Siskind | Sunday, 19 October 2025
It’s hard to believe Clarence Thomas was confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice October 15, 34 years ago. Just before, I embarked on a 4-day trek with a couple of friends. We walked a loop from a trailhead in Independence, CA, famous as the site of Charlie Manson’s trial, across Shepard Pass, through the cirque that is the source of the Kern River, along Diamond Mesa and back down to Independence, returning to LA in the middle of Anita Hills testimony.
In the mountains we three squoze into a very small tent and entertained ourselves through the long nights reading plays. We lay in our sleeping bags and read The Importance of Being Earnest, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Major Barbara. One of our number then would meditate to ease his way into sleep. He had been practicing Transcendental Meditation for a few years (TM is a commercialized offspring of ancient vedic practices - pre Hindu). I became curious and over the years have wandered from one neo-Bhuddist meditation practice (mostly Vipassana adjacent) to another, “studying” the works and methods of the many Peace Corps practitioners who popularized Buddhism in the US in the late 60s and beyond. We often alternated seated and walking meditations. I tended to jump out of my skin during a seated meditation. Walking meditation was always a welcome refuge. It stilled my monkey mind a bit by encouraging a mindful attention to the sensations and placement of my feet.
I’m not sure why but a couple of days ago I found myself back in front of the Sexyloops FlyCasting Video Master Class. I was looking for practices and drills that might help me optimize my performance casting for reds later this week. I settled into Three Key Drills. Paul suggested this to me over a year ago and while I practiced the walking drill it as a warmup since but did not fully invest in it, practicing instead specific movements, snakehead shots, and distance practice way past its usefulness. I guess the time for the Three Keys became ripe. I have fallen in love with the simplicity and amusing discovery of spending 20-30 minutes with them. It feels right. I’m hoping that it will quiet my mind, reduce over-thinking.
So here we are now on the Mississippi delta, me and my buddy Marty. Brian Boehm is on the pole. Conditions suck today. Winds 17-20 mph from the SW, streaks and whitecaps in the Gulf and dirty water everywhere. I had poor shots - failed twice and was ignored once. That’s it. The wind will switch over night and opportunities should improve over the next few.
On the brighter side - Ohtani! 10Ks, 3 dingers. Unbelievable. And Jackie says the No Kings turnout in Manhattan is very good.
And we ate a dozen, each, of the best charbroiled oysters I’ve ever had.