“Blackberry Song” – Kurt Vile

Crawl out of that dusty sleeping bag and greet the day. Sit on the tailgate and rub the sleep from your eyes. Think about coffee, reach into the cooler instead. Crack a beer and two eggs. Chop some chorizo and add it to your eggs, along with some black beans. Fire up the stove and cook yourself some breakfast. Eat your omelette and watch the sun rise higher over the tree tops. Drink your beer. Smoke half a cigarette. Wander across the meadow and into the bush. Lean against a tree and shit. Walk back to camp. Feel the warm sun on your face and the wet dew on your feet.

Douse yourself in bug spray. Stuff two beer into the pack. Ready the essentials. Carefully string that little fiberglass rod. Dig through your flies, tie your knots and pull them tight. Step into that cool water flowing from the boreal hills. Let that tea-stained stream lap against your pant legs. Bend down and dip your hands, run them over your face and along the back of your neck. Feel that crisp morning air wash away the smoke of last nights fire. Let the bright morning light burn away the fog of last nights lager. Listen to the songbirds sing. Watch the stoneflies flutter. Notice the grayling rise. Face upstream and begin.

Remember to touch all the bases. Be here now.

This may not always be here and you will surely not be . . . but today is today . . . make it last a little while.