This announcement was made over the intercom at work: “Please do not leave your work area to go fishing.  You may fish only after your work day is complete.  Thank you.” I work in an aerospace engineering/production facility in the Seattle suburbs.  Fishing and fiber optics do not normally go hand in hand…  I actually thought it was a joke until I went outside for a break during production shift change.  There were fishing poles and waders everywhere.  Our building is tucked  into a tight bend of the Green River and is surrounded by water on 2.5 sides.  The pacific salmon are now swimming upstream to spawn and the river is thick with them – I mean there is a river of fish in the actual river.  They are huge – most between 3-4 feet

I was awestruck.  It was like a scene from one of the old Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom shows from the Alaskan wilderness where host Marlin Perkins would describe what a bear was thinking as the bruin stood on a water covered ledge in a snow-melt river swiping 4 foot salmon out of the water.

I believe that this afternoon I will be going to Big5 and to get my fishing license so that I can attempt to BBQ some fresh Salmon this weekend – I saw attempt due to the fish repelling pheromones that I seem to produce.  Just in case I do either get lucky or am able to steal a fish from a true angler I am thinking of using my father-in-laws ceder plank salmon recipe.  YUM!  Again, I am amazed almost everyday with the place we have chosen to live: The people, the culture, and the natural world that surrounds us.