The Sportsman's Corner: Thoughts from Fly-Tying Room

One late night during the recent "polar vortex," I was ensconced in my fly tying room, supposedly reading. Actually, I was probably spending more time daydreaming (although it was nighttime).

I was pretty much staring at the large stash of "valuable" stuff I've managed to squeeze into this glorified closet over time. As I gazed at a print of a gobbler on one wall, I wondered how the turkeys were faring during this frigid night. I couldn't imagine they were comfortable on their roosts. When I looked at a couple buck racks hanging from the walls, I figured the deer were pretty uncomfortable, too, especially if many of the large horde of local coyotes were after them. When I gazed at the painting of a brown trout adorning another wall, I imagined that the coldwater fish I admire so much were lying sluggishly at the bottoms of their favorite streams. I guess I anthropomorphically believed that the turkeys, deer, and trout were probably daydreaming of warmer days.

I then smiled to think that the weather pundits were not discussing global warming as they tend to do on hot summer days. But, I also recalled recently making a statement about global warming that upset an environmentalist friend. One bitter day, I had blurted out to her, "You know, I'm in favor of global warming. I hate this cold."

"Good heavens, Rich, I thought you had more sense than to say something like that. This cold spell is just weather. You ought to know that weather is a short-term phenomenon. Cold weather, as well as hot weather, comes and goes. Global warming is long-term. It is the actual changing of the world's climate. It will have dramatic, negative effects on the earth. You can already see some of the effects of climate change around here. Migrant birds appear and breed earlier than they once did. Overall water temperatures have risen. Do you want to see your favorite trout streams become inhospitable for trout?"

"Of course not," I replied. "But, I think some consequences are being blown out of proportion. Environmentalists say that oceans will rise by several feet. I don't believe that. Even if the Arctic ice melts, it's not going to raise water levels. In fact, water levels should diminish."

"You're forgetting the glaciers, especially on Antarctica. They're going to melt, too."

Recalling my friend's response that day about global warming wiped away my smile. Maybe I should concentrate more on the book in my hands when I'm reading in my fly-tying room.