Woolly Buggers

Our neighbor Bob is a man of many talents and many passions. He is a tender-hearted counselor, a Bible scholar, a poet, a furniture craftsman, a creative handyman, and an entymologist. And that's just a short list. Among the many pursuits that fill his life, fly-fishing provided the greatest lure as he looked forward to retirement. And fly-tying fills many of his winter hours.

I've been eyeing this batch of flies that Bob gave us, thinking about turning a couple into a pair of earrings. But last night, at an early birthday party, he and his wife Ardyce presented me with three pair of specially tied flies attached to earhooks instead of fishhooks.

Today I wore the tamest pair, the subtle green ones. As I walked through the door of a shop today, a gentleman eyed my ears and smiled, "I like your earrings. Did you tie them yourself?"

"No, a friend made them for me."

"He must be a fly fisherman," the man replied.

"He certainly is," I answered, reaching for one of the woolly buggers dangling from my ears. "Aren't they lovely?"

Bob is a fly fisherman. And a true friend. He sees a need and seeks to meet it. Such a great gift.