I hoped we’d seen the last of the hot weather, but this week’s air temperatures are in the upper nineties. Heat indices above 100 all weekend. You get up early, fish ‘til ten, maybe noon…then what?
You loaf.
Loafing is fly fishing’s antidote to the rat race of your social media feed, to the legion of stone-faced stoics mean-mugging lenses in service of The Hero Shot searching for validation from internet strangers.
Loafing isn’t always photogenic. Loafing’s what’s cut from the sizzle reels. But those who look down on loafing have no idea the enormous vein of outdoor experiences they’re missing. Look:
MAKE A FRIEND. Bring your own, or find one. Donate half your apple to the donkey across the fence.Hike, fetch, swim, skip rocks, belly rubs. Make a dog’s day. 
FORAGE. Summer is berry time. Indulge. Mushrooms- mushrooms- chanterelles, chicken of the woods, saddle dryad, are all up and out. Bring a bag and go nuts. 
HAVE A BEER. A gose, a witbeer, a sessionable IPA, or an ice cold Budweiser- take your pick. The fish will still be there when things cool down. 
RELAX. Find a shady, sandy spot, prop yourself against a tree or a log or a boulder, and center yourself. Doze off if you want- you may have left the house at 4 am, you’ve earned it. And if you’ve never dozed off in the woods, in a tree stand or turkey blind or along a pretty trout stream…you’re missing out on an exceptional experience 
LOOK DOWN. You might surprise yourself. 
LOOK AROUND. There are a crazy array of birds out there. Buntings, cuckoos, tanagers, warblers, waxwings- an entire realm you don’t pay attention to watching a hopper or a bobber. Pay attention. Learn which one’s which. 
SNORKEL. It’s an entirely different world underwater. Scope out trout haunts, sculpins, darters, shiners, crayfish, mussels, mudpuppies, and the myriad aquatic life of which trout are only some small part of. 
PACK IT OUT. It’s been a crazy couple years on our waterways, with more people outside than ever before. It shows. Take a hero shot of the trash you pick up. Wanna be a hero? Pick up a bag of trash. 
TAKE A DIP. By yourself, or with your friends. A self-baptismal works wonders. 
FLIP A FEW ROCKS. Check out the scuds, sowbugs, stoneflies, mayfly nymphs, caddisfly cases, salamanders, tadpoles, snails, and all the rest. Pay attention to sizes and colors and patterns.
You don’t have to catch that fish. You don’t have to risk killing it for the sake of a selfie. If the only thing that matters is what’s happening at the end of your line…you’re missing almost everything. So stop. Think. Take stock of everything beyond the hopper or the bobber. Play.
Practice the lost art of loafing.
The outside bend. 
Acknowledging the simple and open expression of what you believe is good and important in life, I will be bold and say this is one of your best posts.