September 29, 2025 • 33 mins
Natalie and Pam talk with Berin Wachsmann about fly fishing, wellness, and resiliency. Learn how nature, mindset, and service strengthen daily life.
Episode Summary:
Natalie Davis and Pamela Cass welcome Berin Wachsmann, a Colorado fly fishing guide and life coach. He shares how time in nature, mindful presence, and joyful energy fuel resiliency and mental health. The conversation explores lessons from fly fishing, practical wellness habits, and how to focus on the journey over outcomes.
What You’ll Learn:
• How fly fishing mirrors life lessons in patience and presence
• Why joyful energy shifts both fishing and personal outcomes
• Ways to hold space and lead during difficult times
• Simple daily practices that strengthen resiliency
Key Takeaways:
• Presence beats distraction.
• The journey matters more than the outcome.
• Invest in health now to avoid higher costs later.
• Service to others builds your own resiliency.
Notable Quotes:
“Today is the best day of my life so far.” – Berin Wachsmann
“It isn’t about the destination. It is about the journey.” – Berin Wachsmann
Practical Steps for Listeners:
Mirror work: two minutes of self-connection daily.
Upgrade your water source, at home and while traveling.
Walk outdoors for one hour and seek morning light.
Subscribe to The Reignite Resilience Thinkletter
Subscribe to Our Weekly ThinkLetter
https://reigniteresilience.com/Thinkletter/
Facebook
Instagram
Magical Mornings Journal
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The co-hosts of this podcast are not medical professionals. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast. Reliance on any information provided by the podcast hosts or guests is solely at your own risk.
Pamela Cass is a licensed broker with Kentwood Real Estate
Natalie Davis is a licensed broker with Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
All of us reach a point in time where we are
depleted and need to somehowfind a way to reignite the fire
within.
But how do we spark that flame?
Welcome to Reignite Resilience,where we will venture into the
heart of the human spirit.
Resilience where we willventure into the heart of the
(00:27):
human spirit.
We'll discuss the art ofreigniting our passion and
strategies to stoke ourenthusiasm.
And now here are your hosts,natalie Davis and Pamela Cass.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Welcome back to another episode of Reignite
Resilience.
I am your co-host, natalieDavis, and I'm so excited to be
back with everyone.
And, of course, joining me isPam Kass.
Hello Pam, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I am good.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
There was some reservation there.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
There was a little reservation and here's why and I
wasn't going to say anythingbut this has been a really tough
week, I think, not only for ourstate but also our country and
our kids, because I've got kidskind of in that college kind of
age and you know, between aperson in public figure who was
(01:21):
assassinated in front ofthousands of children, and I've
got friends that have kids thatare in college in Utah to in
front of his wife, his kids, toa school shooting in Colorado
that happened the exact same dayto the 24th anniversary of 9-11
.
And so I'm just thinking aboutsignificant events that have
(01:42):
happened throughout my life andthroughout most people's life.
Everyone has had somesignificant thing that has
happened where you can rememberwhat I was doing, where I was
when this thing happened.
I mean I remember sitting inclass watching the Challenger
explode, as we were watching itin junior high.
I'm aging myself.
I remember when Princess Dianadied.
(02:02):
I was a young mother andthinking about her kids.
I remember when Columbineshooting happened and I had a
daughter in school, and Iremember when 9-11 happened.
And so these are significantevents and I find that people
will gravitate towards justobsessing about the news and now
social media and they just likelooking for answers to help
(02:23):
them process.
You know the anger, the fear,the sadness and everything that
they feel, and so I found myselfgoing down that spiral and then
trying to explain it to my kids, and so it was just.
It's been a heavy week, andwhen you think about our podcast
on resilience, you know whatdoes resilience mean, and I
think it's different foreveryone, and it's not about
(02:44):
bouncing back quickly.
It's about allowing yourself tofeel those emotions and then
figuring out what works for youto be able to move forward.
Whether that's prayer, whetherit's being with friends, whether
it's talking about it withpeople, whatever that is, but
then allowing yourself quicklyto move forward, because we have
had so many incredible gueststhat have gone through
(03:06):
unthinkable things, and everysingle one of them has taken
that thing and created somethingbeautiful that has is and has
made a difference in people'slives, and so I just wanted to
mention it today because it'sjust on my heart.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
No, perfect.
No, I'm glad that you did.
Thank you for sharing that.
And it's so interesting becauseI've connected with a couple of
friends and friends that havekids that are in school here in
Colorado, and then just thenumber of lockdowns they've gone
through leading up to and afterthe Evergreen incident, and so
it's definitely been anemotional roller coaster.
(03:44):
Yeah, and so just allowingspace it's.
I've been on a couple of callstoday where there's just been
space that's been created justfor remembrance, for
appreciation, for respect.
I think that's the biggestpiece is just the respect.
I commend those leaders thatcan truly step up and hold that
space to have that empathy andthe respect and the
(04:05):
understanding, because that's abig part of humanity that
sometimes we forget.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
So, yeah, it's so interesting you go there,
because I think I got on thecall today and or got on to
record the pod today and I waslike, oh my gosh, it's only
midday, I have so much morestill to do and I've yet I've
done so much already, as youknow, I am heading into a
retreat yes Evening and I willbe in a retreat through Sunday
(04:30):
evening and so, yeah, so it'sgetting myself in that mindset
of being around other people andyou know, I mean, and I'm
excited to kind of move forwardand do something that's going to
be positive and yeah it's goingto be great, and this retreat
is actually the wrap up for anentire program that you are part
of, so I'm excited to hear howit all pans out for you, because
(04:51):
you've touched on kind of allthe key areas of life as you've
worked together as a group andyeah, and so this is kind of the
final one.
Our last one was the silentretreat which we talked about,
and this one is calledUnshakable Love.
Talked about, and and this oneis called unshakable love.
So I'm excited this will, thiswill be a perfect, perfect
retreat to have this weekend.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I love it.
Oh my gosh, I'm sure that it'sgoing to be magical.
I am positive of that it willbe.
I love it.
I love it.
Well, we have a guest today.
I'm partial, so guess that I'mexcited to have on.
I didn't do any arm twisting oranything, so I want to just set
the record straight with that.
Just why don't you tell our?
Why don't you tell ourlisteners?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
All right.
So today.
He is born and raised in FortCollins, colorado and Southern
Wyoming, on a horse and cattleranch.
Barron developed a strong workethic and love of the outdoors.
He is known for his incrediblepositive outlook, integrity and
calm, consistent demeanor.
Often his friends have referredto him as the most thoughtful
(05:55):
person in the room.
Barron has been involved withbuilding and real estate
industry since 1994 and hasbuilt and or remodeled over a
hundred homes and closed over750 transactions.
He believes in magic and is agreat communicator with
excellent people and soft skills.
(06:15):
Barron has held all fourinsurance licenses, a Colorado
contractor's license andcurrently has a Colorado real
estate license, as well as beinga certified fly fishing guide
and life coach.
Some of Varon's hobbies includefly fishing, woodworking,
building furniture withfrequency, reading, writing,
(06:36):
working out and traveling.
He is fond of saying today isthe best day of my life so far.
I love that, and his currentgoal is to write a couple of
short essays, books andestablish his own curriculum to
help people heal their traumaand learn about themselves
through the sport of fly fishingand being surrounded by nature.
(06:59):
Welcome, we are so glad you arehere.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Thank you.
First of all, I want to say I'mhumbled and honored to be here,
and thank you to ladies.
I think what?
Is this?
The 160th episode or?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Ish, yes, Ish a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
I followed the journey avid listener, listened
to every episode and I justthink it's beautiful that the
two of you stepped out withcourage into the unknown to give
a space for people to sharetheir story and be seen and to
give space for a community thatyou two wanted to foster, which
(07:39):
I think speaks a lot to the twoof you and your character and
what you two are doing.
I think it's just wonderful.
And, pam, you were saying somethings earlier and you know my
mom was a corrections officer,right, so I was around a lot of
first responders, sheriff's swatthey used to come to the horse
(08:00):
ranch and hunt and I happened tobe at the worldwide
headquarters for project healingwaters, which heals veterans
through the sport of fly fishing, is in windsor, colorado, here
in our backyard, and I was attheir headquarters on 9-11 with
the ceo, john st langford.
And the opportunity that thetwo of you are giving through
(08:20):
this podcast to showcase otherpeople, people like myself, and
the ability to share your storyand the resilience and the
resilient nature of humans andlove and compassion, I think
personally is the healing thatthe country or the world
(08:44):
actually needs for things likethis week.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Thank you for that.
Thank you, I actually neverthought of the podcast as that,
but it absolutely is that spacewhere people can come to and we
hold that for you to be seen, tobe heard, sharing your story,
and our hope is for you tolaunch, if that's where you want
to go, or just sharing yourmessage.
So I've never thought about ituntil you just mentioned it that
(09:09):
way.
So thank you for sharing that,yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Well, thank you too for having me.
I appreciate it very much.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Well, kick us off, barron.
I want to hear your story, tellus about yourself.
You went into a little bitabout your mom being a
correction officer that had alot in shaping who you are.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
Tell us a little bit about your mom being a
correction officer.
That had a lot in shaping whoyou are.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself.
It did.
I was born and raised here inFort Collins on a horse ranch
north of town and my parents andgrandparents had cattle ranches
in southern Wyoming.
My whole life that, moving fromthe city, being a skateboarder,
snowboarder.
When I was like 12, I thoughtmy world was over, right no more
cement.
I wouldn't have it any otherway.
It definitely taught me a lotabout a strong work ethic and
love of the outdoors.
(09:49):
It also taught me about horsesand how to rope and ride and do
these fun range things and vent,fence and put up hay and so on
and so forth and and uh, how topaint yes, I had an interesting
childhood.
My mom was a corrections officerwho was married five times, and
(10:11):
a couple of those gentlemencame from corrections facilities
.
So I went through someheartache, I would say there,
but it was all perfect.
It was all perfect.
Everything led up to the man Iam today, and I like to tell
people your past is perfectbecause it put you where you are
today.
And perfect doesn't meanpleasant, it doesn't mean that,
but it does mean for a lot of usthat it gives you the
(10:34):
opportunity to evolve into thehuman being and either.
It's, pam, something you saidearlier.
I was thinking.
It's not always about whathappened, it's about what
happens after the thing right,how you react to that.
Went to college early, did notend up graduating CSU nor high
(11:08):
school.
Actually, I ended up with thisclose to an associate's degree
and got into the buildingindustry and went to Vail for
five years and learned how tobuild timber, frame and log
homes and all my friends weregraduating with computer science
degrees and a lot of debt andno job, and so when I went to
(11:28):
vale I was like I'm not going tolook back and got a
contractor's license, came backto fort collins and had an
opportunity, ironically, on 9-11, when it actually happened.
I do know where I was becausemy lead carpenter, james Lidzo
his father flew the flight fromPhilly to DC.
(11:51):
That was his flight, the onethat crashed into the Pentagon,
and that gentleman was sittingnext to me as we were driving in
and all this happened and hewas freaking out because he
thought his dad was on the plane.
Turns out, his dad called insick that day of all days, right
, no accidents in the universe.
A little bit later I had abunch of lots in Greeley, a
(12:12):
bunch in Loveland.
My uncles were in real estate.
My uncle called and said Idon't know if it's a good time
for you to be a builder.
I've got somebody who will takeyour lots in Loveland.
Gentleman called the next day,said I'll buy your lots in
Greeley.
And another gentleman calledthe third day and said I heard
you wanted to buy into a realestate company.
Do you still want to do that?
So in three days my lifechanged.
(12:36):
I bought into a real estatecompany and got my insurance
licenses and then ended upgetting my real estate license
25 years ago.
As I like to tell people, it wasmy Friday night essence on
Friday night, or Friday morning,if you're driving to work and
the boss calls and says, hey,take the day off with pay, do
whatever you want to do.
What would you go do?
What are the five things youmight go do when you're like, oh
, I got the day off and it'spaid and do whatever I want?
(12:57):
Well, just so happened thatFriday I was on the phone trying
to do another fix and flip andbuy another house and do another
remodel and all this stuff, andI'm like, well, that's what I
would do.
I'm a deal junkie, I'm going toget into real estate.
I can always go back to being acontractor.
And so that's how I got intoreal estate.
Ironically, it was 25-24 yearsago, right right, when 9-11
happened.
(13:17):
And and uh, like I said, closeto me, because my lead
carpenter's dad flew on thatflight and I have a lot of
friends in in Manhattan too.
So, anyhow, that's a little bitabout my story.
I've uh gone through someintense stuff over my life.
I've've been burned as ateenager, second, third degree
burns all over my hands and face, which taught me how to paint,
(13:41):
because I got grounded for thesummer and had to paint the barn
hand paint the barn for my mom.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
We should probably go back.
The burns were a result of youbeing experiment.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Yes, I had an affinity for, uh, fire, let's
say.
And things went sideways and soI had second, third degree
burns all over my hands and face.
I say weird things, but thingsthat happened.
I was jumped that same year,had all my teeth, all these
teeth, knocked out, my nosebroken.
(14:14):
I had to have all those teethclipped out of braces and put
back in with no Novocaine.
I want to say I've never brokena bone, but earlier this summer
I fell off of a roof and had a200-pound ladder hit me and
shatter my nose and broke it,and it had been broken before.
So I think this time it brokeit the right way and healed it,
(14:36):
if that makes sense.
Perfect.
I feel like I can breathebetter pam, don't feed feed into
that we don't know you.
Yeah, cut my foot with achainsaw.
It just interesting things howto snowboard.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
You cut your foot with a chainsaw, like you, you
just skip.
I got a splinter.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
That was another deal on the farm where my mom was
like hey, I need you to startthe chainsaw.
And I did it without shoes onand the chainsaw started and
then skipped and then went rightacross my foot and I ended up
in the hospital and abnormalthings Later in life.
I was into snowboarding, gotsponsored, won a big air contest
and happened to snap my ACL andwas in pre-op for surgery and
(15:19):
was like I just got sponsored, Ican't do this, I can't be out
for two years, so snowboard foranother couple of years until I
tore my MCL and my meniscus, andthat's when I actually went
back to CSU for a little whileand ended up buying that horse
farm from my parents and theymoved to their ranch and I took
over out there.
But yeah, my upbringing wasinteresting and, my mom being a
(15:42):
corrections officer, I grew uparound the SWAT and the sheriff
and so you know to speak brieflyon what you were talking about
today and my mission now in FlyFishing Saves Lives.
I never want to get political,but the root cause of so much of
this is mental health.
It truly is.
It truly is people's mentalhealth because, whether they had
(16:06):
a weapon or not, somewhereinside their mind at some point
they thought to themselves.
This makes sense to me.
This is the right thing to doIn my case, with Project Healing
Waters and helping them 22veterans a day at some point the
right thing to do is to take myown life because there's no
other out.
And that is not a gun controlthing, right.
(16:30):
Nor was the shootings, nor wasthis assassination.
This is a mental health crisisand part of my goal is to help
address that at the root cause,because I can't swear to it, but
I do believe that quitepossibly people who are
suffering from that, even ifguns were entirely illegal would
(16:53):
find a way to do harm maybe notwith a gun, but to do harm to
themselves or others and we haveto have compassion for those
people, because we all gothrough stuff, right.
That's why we're here reigniteresilience.
What have you gone through?
It's never about the thing, it'salways what happens after the
(17:13):
thing and how did you react toit and how did you deal with it.
What kind of support system didyou have?
What kind of resources did youhave?
There is a lot of resources,but there's a lot of
marginalized communities thatdon't have access to those
resources, and that's part of mymission lately with Fly Fishing
Saves Lives and being, as youmentioned, a certified guide.
(17:35):
Lately, with Fly Fishing SavesLives and being, as you
mentioned, a certified guide, Ihad my first paying client this
year.
In however, many years I'vebeen doing this many, many years
, because I normally don'tcharge I've taken a lot of
cancer survivors, a lot ofveterans, a lot of people with
different disabilities out onthe water.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I typically don't ask for payment.
So Well, I think, as you buildout or you share with us, like
how you've built out, FlyFishing Saves Lives.
I think it's important for usto take it back like your
introduction to fly fishing andwhen that became part of your
life and it became a normal partof your life.
Because when you talk aboutthat Friday, like the Friday,
like you get the call, what areyou going to do?
I know what your answer wouldprobably be today Not probably,
(18:19):
it is the answer always but howdo you get to that point where
you realize that it's not simplyjust the sport of fly fishing
but all of the additionalbenefits?
So kind of talk to us aboutyour journey through fly fishing
and how it was introduced andall of that.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Thank you.
Thank you for bringing that up.
I was introduced to the sportof fly fishing from my
grandfather and when you'reyounger and your patience might
not be, Developed, yet Mightstill be the same today.
Honestly, but when your patienceis a little less than it's
(18:54):
easier to go back to what youknow, which at the time for me
was more traditional gear andbait fishing, and you know I'm
here to catch fish.
But then over time I continuedto learn about the sport and go
with my grandfather and now, asyou pointed out, I began to
appreciate all aspects of it andso I try and share with people.
(19:17):
You know it's a lot like lifeand the universe and how you
look at things and the positiveoutlook.
I don't think you're going tomeet a fly fisherman who doesn't
have hope, because every daymight be your best day on the
water and you go and so much ofit is the preparation.
(19:37):
And I say fly fisher man, flyfisher person Women are the
fastest growing segment of thesport.
You enjoy the preparation, youenjoy getting your gear ready,
you enjoy the drive, most people.
You enjoy the outdoors.
Once you're there, the serenityyou get into the water.
Everything in my world,everything is energy.
(19:57):
The water has its own energy.
It can touch you and move youand then you're immersed in here
in this moment, in the now.
And, pam, I know you did asilent retreat.
(20:18):
There's silence but there's thesounds of nature, right the
water and the wind and maybe thebirds.
And even if you're with friends, many times you can't fish the
same section.
Or if you do, you're watching,but you present this offering to
the fish watching.
(20:39):
But you present this offeringto the fish, just like you
present your gifts to the world.
And you don't know what's goingto happen in fly fishing.
You don't know.
You put it out there and you'relike, oh my gosh, are they
going to take it?
Are they not going to take it?
That was such a great cast.
I'm so excited and you don'tactually know.
And then maybe they do, andthen you lose the fish, but
you're right back at it and youdon't actually know.
And then maybe they do, andthen you lose the fish and but
you, you're like, you're rightback at it and you don't quit
(21:00):
most people.
You're like, okay, I didn'tcatch one, but I'm so excited to
be here, I just want to tryagain and again, and that's part
of the therapeutic nature of itand and the presence of being
right there.
In that moment, you can'treally be anywhere else.
There's a meme about that.
When you're out there andyou're fishing In fly fishing,
(21:20):
we have indicators.
They're kind of like a bobberand you're like, oh, okay, stare
at the indicator, stare at theindicator.
Stare at the indicator.
And you're like, oh, an eagle,bobber down, damn it.
Oh, okay, okay, damn it.
Okay, okay, stare at theindicator, stare at the
indicator, stare at theindicator.
Should I have a sip of beer?
(21:41):
Oh, bobber down.
Oh, they know right, totally.
So.
My journey into fly fishing atfirst was one of learning
patience, and now it's.
And then you start to want togo because you want to catch
fish, you want to be with yourfriends and you want to have
this experience.
And then it evolved, natalie,into the whole experience.
And now I equivocally enjoyseeing other people go out and
(22:05):
taking them, especiallyfirst-timers, and watching the
wonder and the mystery and andwatching it unfold for them,
because you get to experience itthrough through their eyes,
right, and sometimes it allclicks.
We all know a gentleman namedjohn simmons.
He took me on a bucket listitem belongs peak but I took him
(22:28):
fly fishing for his first timein steamboat and we had one of
those days where we caught, wedid, we caught every fish in the
river.
We caught so many fish and Itried to tell them.
It's not like this.
I mean, it's like this today,yeah, but this is a day that's
going to go down in history,even for me.
So, and now he fly fishesactually quite a bit, which I
(22:51):
love, love seeing, but thewonder and the magic that
happens out there is sophenomenal.
And so my journey it's been andit's evolved even more thanks to
people like Natalie.
Really quick story I was outwith a friend, a good friend
that I fly fish with all overthe United States, and we were
on a piece of water that youdon't get to fish very often
(23:12):
it's only about three weeks outof the year and you got to have
an expert oarsman to help you orknow how to do it yourself,
which you would only know if youdid it a hundred times.
And anyhow, we were out on thewater and on the phone and she
hears him cussing at the fishright and, and he is not happy
(23:35):
and there's some expletives andfishermen know what they are
fisher people it's like a commoncatchphrase it's a common
catchphrase.
I'm not going to say the actualword, but it's f these fish, yes
, which?
is also a term of endearment forthe fish that are harder to
catch and and you're like getthose fish, but tomorrow I'm
(23:57):
going to go back and try again,but still, and she said joyful
energy, don't cuss at them,don't call them names, have
joyful energy.
And it was on speakerphone andthe guide heard it, mark heard
it, I heard it.
And ever since then and it'sbeen three years maybe joyful
(24:18):
energy you put joyful energyinto the water, into the fishing
, and it comes back to you.
Yeah, even if you don't catchfish, this joyful energy comes
back and, uh, and it's beautiful, it's beautiful it changes the
entire temperament of theexperience.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Right, that's.
Even pam got to hear ourfishing adventure, our first
fishing adventure at you as aguide and me as being the fly
fisher woman that you weretaking out, and we can share
that with our listeners as well.
But even in scenarios like that, like it's, we can choose to be
upset or, you know, be angry orwhat have you, or just like
(24:59):
well, that's one for the books.
That's never happened before.
I'd knock on wood that itdoesn't ever happen again.
Why don't we share that story?
Your first trip out as a trueofficial guide, I didn't pay.
I think this was part of yourcoursework, so I didn't pay.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
My guide friends around the world.
I apologize in advance.
Those of you who know me knowthat I used to joke and say it's
always the guide's fault.
It's always the guide's fault.
You don't catch fish guide'sfault, tornado guide's fault.
Weather sucks, wind comes, rainguide's fault.
That's on you.
You fall in the river.
(25:35):
That's still the guide's faultUntil you become a guide.
And then our first foray outout.
We got caught in a massive,massive hailstorm for over an
hour probably golf ball sizehail.
Marvel, the golf ball size hailended up in a duck line with 10
other people and the hail'scoming down and people are
(25:57):
shivering and there's justdoesn't seem to be an end in
sight.
And Natalie looks at me and shegoes.
So is this the guy's fault?
Is this your fault?
I'm like yep, yep, there is.
We're all huddled in this duck,blind on private ranch that
we're not supposed to be in,trying not to get hit by
lightning and hail.
And that's definitely my fault.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
That's totally the experience, because here I am
and I have to say that you didset me up for success, all of
the things that were importantto me.
We're going to have snacks.
I had a very cute outfit.
Yes, it was a lovely time ofday, right Like the drive was
beautiful.
I was like sold, I'm in, let'sdo it.
And we see the clouds coming in.
I also learned that you're notsupposed to talk about rain or
(26:40):
wind or anything when you're outon the water, and so we see the
clouds come in.
And some of the folks that wereon the river that day, they were
like we're going to outrun it.
And that was like my sign.
That was like red flag numberone.
I was like you're going tooutrun what?
Like?
What are we?
What are we outrunning?
And so we didn't.
We did not outrun it.
We're like we're just going tocontinue to go down the river,
(27:05):
it'll be fine.
And then the skies opened withhail and and baron, you're
exactly right like I'm lookingat the sign that's clearly
posted private property, butit's a nice duck blind that
looks like it's safer thangetting a concussion from hail
on a river.
So the other turns out later.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
The other guy said they they ended up flipping over
their boats and hiding undertheir boats better.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yes, yeah, but the deadline was it right, so the
dust line was in trouble.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Typical fashion, for me, at least, there's no accents
in the universe as these peoplewere filing in.
Sure enough, here comes afriend of mine, you know mike,
who's been on the one.
He's like hey, bear I'm like,hey, how you doing, come on in,
let's go.
Yeah, no problem, and we're in.
You know, mike, who's been onthe one, he's like, hey, bear,
I'm like, hey, how you doing,come on in, let's go.
Yeah, no problem, and we're in.
You know nowhere, wyoming justran into the property and the
other day I was up at some somesecret spot and ran into my 89
(27:54):
year old cousin out on the water.
Just come back from the honorflight for veterans, yeah, so.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
I love this story because, you know, I think so
often people are focused on theoutcome, like I'm going to catch
a fish that they misseverything that's leading up to
it.
You know, like you said, thebeauty of every preparing for it
, the drive, just all of thatstuff, because a lot of times I
know Natalie and I have traveledtogether.
(28:21):
Some of my best memories werewhen we're like the curveballs?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
yeah, exactly, it's like when do we get the
curveball?
And then that's what makes itridiculous.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
That's what we remember, not like the amazing
castle we went through orwhatever.
No, it's the car rolling downthe hill because somebody forgot
to put the brake on the trip.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Trip in Morocco.
Yeah, after that, the sun cameout, rainbows came out.
We had a beautiful boat ride.
Later that day, miss Natalie'sin a hammock by the river
reading a book, you know, andI'm still in the water.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Of course I'd had enough.
I was like does that fulfillthe requirements for the course?
Yes, done, I'm done, I'll be inthe hammock.
Does that fulfill?
Speaker 3 (28:59):
the requirements for the course.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yes, done, I'm done, I'll be in the hammer.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
What you said lately this has been on my heart a lot
is, you know, it isn't about thedestination, it is about the
journey.
Kurt Dieter was just on, whoyou don't know, but he runs
FlyLab and Ingrid Trade Mediaand he was talking about don't
be a fish counter.
He said he was in a shop andthe guy was like, hey, my sons
(29:25):
are going with their pain, theywant to catch a lot of fish,
make sure they catch them.
And he was like you know, maybewe'll see a bald eagle, maybe
we'll see a moose and hopefullywe catch some fish.
But if they don't enjoy therest of that, then maybe fly
fishing isn't for them andthat's okay.
But it's not the light at theend of the tunnel.
That's the illusion.
Right, it's the tunnel, that'sthe illusion, and the light
(29:49):
actually comes from you.
It comes from you.
That shining light is how youshow up, what intention you show
up with.
I know some fishy dudes, fishywomen, who show up with the best
attitude and the wrong flies,flies that they tied, that
(30:12):
shouldn't catch fish, theyreally shouldn't.
But they have this shininglight and this intention and
they're here to enjoy it andthey tend to catch more fish
than everybody else, of course,and they show up with that, and
it's just a completely differentexperience, because it it is
about the experience.
(30:32):
I've been out like.
I've rescued a baby goat backto a rancher, I got to literally
almost pet a baby, a newbornbaby, baby elk.
I've run into moose All ofthese things that have nothing
to do with catching fish, buteverything to do with the
experience itself.
Right yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Well, what's funny, everything that you've been
talking, not once have youtalked about the fish that you
caught.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Yeah, no.
And you know, what'sinteresting is the ones that you
catch, like when you weresaying when you're traveling,
it's the crazy stuff thathappens, the memories.
And I can promise you, for mostfishermen, however they fish,
it's not the ones they caughtthat they remember the most.
It's the one that got away,it's the one that they lost, or
(31:21):
the one that they almost caught,or the one that had this
terrific eat and miss the fly,but you got to see it and it was
just so.
It just.
It burns in your memory rightand you talk about it for years
to come.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Thank you for joining us today on the Reignite
Resilience Podcast.
We hope you had some ahamoments and learned a few new
real life ideas.
To fuel the flames of passion,please subscribe on your
favorite streaming platform,like or download your favorite
episodes and, of course, sharewith your friends and family.
We look forward to seeing youagain next time on Reignite
(31:59):
Resilience.
All of us reach a point in time where we are
depleted and need to somehowfind a way to reignite the fire
within.
But how do we spark that flame?
Welcome to Reignite Resilience,where we will venture into the
heart of the human spirit.
Resilience where we willventure into the heart of the
(00:27):
human spirit.
We'll discuss the art ofreigniting our passion and
strategies to stoke ourenthusiasm.
And now here are your hosts,natalie Davis and Pamela Cass.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Welcome back to another episode of Reignite
Resilience.
I am your co-host, natalieDavis, and I'm so excited to be
back with everyone.
And, of course, joining me isPam Kass.
Hello Pam, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I am good.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
There was some reservation there.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
There was a little reservation and here's why and I
wasn't going to say anythingbut this has been a really tough
week, I think, not only for ourstate but also our country and
our kids, because I've got kidskind of in that college kind of
age and you know, between aperson in public figure who was
(01:21):
assassinated in front ofthousands of children, and I've
got friends that have kids thatare in college in Utah to in
front of his wife, his kids, toa school shooting in Colorado
that happened the exact same dayto the 24th anniversary of 9-11
.
And so I'm just thinking aboutsignificant events that have
(01:42):
happened throughout my life andthroughout most people's life.
Everyone has had somesignificant thing that has
happened where you can rememberwhat I was doing, where I was
when this thing happened.
I mean I remember sitting inclass watching the Challenger
explode, as we were watching itin junior high.
I'm aging myself.
I remember when Princess Dianadied.
(02:02):
I was a young mother andthinking about her kids.
I remember when Columbineshooting happened and I had a
daughter in school, and Iremember when 9-11 happened.
And so these are significantevents and I find that people
will gravitate towards justobsessing about the news and now
social media and they just likelooking for answers to help
(02:23):
them process.
You know the anger, the fear,the sadness and everything that
they feel, and so I found myselfgoing down that spiral and then
trying to explain it to my kids, and so it was just.
It's been a heavy week, andwhen you think about our podcast
on resilience, you know whatdoes resilience mean, and I
think it's different foreveryone, and it's not about
(02:44):
bouncing back quickly.
It's about allowing yourself tofeel those emotions and then
figuring out what works for youto be able to move forward.
Whether that's prayer, whetherit's being with friends, whether
it's talking about it withpeople, whatever that is, but
then allowing yourself quicklyto move forward, because we have
had so many incredible gueststhat have gone through
(03:06):
unthinkable things, and everysingle one of them has taken
that thing and created somethingbeautiful that has is and has
made a difference in people'slives, and so I just wanted to
mention it today because it'sjust on my heart.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
No, perfect.
No, I'm glad that you did.
Thank you for sharing that.
And it's so interesting becauseI've connected with a couple of
friends and friends that havekids that are in school here in
Colorado, and then just thenumber of lockdowns they've gone
through leading up to and afterthe Evergreen incident, and so
it's definitely been anemotional roller coaster.
(03:44):
Yeah, and so just allowingspace it's.
I've been on a couple of callstoday where there's just been
space that's been created justfor remembrance, for
appreciation, for respect.
I think that's the biggestpiece is just the respect.
I commend those leaders thatcan truly step up and hold that
space to have that empathy andthe respect and the
(04:05):
understanding, because that's abig part of humanity that
sometimes we forget.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
So, yeah, it's so interesting you go there,
because I think I got on thecall today and or got on to
record the pod today and I waslike, oh my gosh, it's only
midday, I have so much morestill to do and I've yet I've
done so much already, as youknow, I am heading into a
retreat yes Evening and I willbe in a retreat through Sunday
(04:30):
evening and so, yeah, so it'sgetting myself in that mindset
of being around other people andyou know, I mean, and I'm
excited to kind of move forwardand do something that's going to
be positive and yeah it's goingto be great, and this retreat
is actually the wrap up for anentire program that you are part
of, so I'm excited to hear howit all pans out for you, because
(04:51):
you've touched on kind of allthe key areas of life as you've
worked together as a group andyeah, and so this is kind of the
final one.
Our last one was the silentretreat which we talked about,
and this one is calledUnshakable Love.
Talked about, and and this oneis called unshakable love.
So I'm excited this will, thiswill be a perfect, perfect
retreat to have this weekend.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I love it.
Oh my gosh, I'm sure that it'sgoing to be magical.
I am positive of that it willbe.
I love it.
I love it.
Well, we have a guest today.
I'm partial, so guess that I'mexcited to have on.
I didn't do any arm twisting oranything, so I want to just set
the record straight with that.
Just why don't you tell our?
Why don't you tell ourlisteners?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
All right.
So today.
He is born and raised in FortCollins, colorado and Southern
Wyoming, on a horse and cattleranch.
Barron developed a strong workethic and love of the outdoors.
He is known for his incrediblepositive outlook, integrity and
calm, consistent demeanor.
Often his friends have referredto him as the most thoughtful
(05:55):
person in the room.
Barron has been involved withbuilding and real estate
industry since 1994 and hasbuilt and or remodeled over a
hundred homes and closed over750 transactions.
He believes in magic and is agreat communicator with
excellent people and soft skills.
(06:15):
Barron has held all fourinsurance licenses, a Colorado
contractor's license andcurrently has a Colorado real
estate license, as well as beinga certified fly fishing guide
and life coach.
Some of Varon's hobbies includefly fishing, woodworking,
building furniture withfrequency, reading, writing,
(06:36):
working out and traveling.
He is fond of saying today isthe best day of my life so far.
I love that, and his currentgoal is to write a couple of
short essays, books andestablish his own curriculum to
help people heal their traumaand learn about themselves
through the sport of fly fishingand being surrounded by nature.
(06:59):
Welcome, we are so glad you arehere.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Thank you.
First of all, I want to say I'mhumbled and honored to be here,
and thank you to ladies.
I think what?
Is this?
The 160th episode or?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Ish, yes, Ish a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
I followed the journey avid listener, listened
to every episode and I justthink it's beautiful that the
two of you stepped out withcourage into the unknown to give
a space for people to sharetheir story and be seen and to
give space for a community thatyou two wanted to foster, which
(07:39):
I think speaks a lot to the twoof you and your character and
what you two are doing.
I think it's just wonderful.
And, pam, you were saying somethings earlier and you know my
mom was a corrections officer,right, so I was around a lot of
first responders, sheriff's swatthey used to come to the horse
(08:00):
ranch and hunt and I happened tobe at the worldwide
headquarters for project healingwaters, which heals veterans
through the sport of fly fishing, is in windsor, colorado, here
in our backyard, and I was attheir headquarters on 9-11 with
the ceo, john st langford.
And the opportunity that thetwo of you are giving through
(08:20):
this podcast to showcase otherpeople, people like myself, and
the ability to share your storyand the resilience and the
resilient nature of humans andlove and compassion, I think
personally is the healing thatthe country or the world
(08:44):
actually needs for things likethis week.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Thank you for that.
Thank you, I actually neverthought of the podcast as that,
but it absolutely is that spacewhere people can come to and we
hold that for you to be seen, tobe heard, sharing your story,
and our hope is for you tolaunch, if that's where you want
to go, or just sharing yourmessage.
So I've never thought about ituntil you just mentioned it that
(09:09):
way.
So thank you for sharing that,yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Well, thank you too for having me.
I appreciate it very much.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Well, kick us off, barron.
I want to hear your story, tellus about yourself.
You went into a little bitabout your mom being a
correction officer that had alot in shaping who you are.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
Tell us a little bit about your mom being a
correction officer.
That had a lot in shaping whoyou are.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself.
It did.
I was born and raised here inFort Collins on a horse ranch
north of town and my parents andgrandparents had cattle ranches
in southern Wyoming.
My whole life that, moving fromthe city, being a skateboarder,
snowboarder.
When I was like 12, I thoughtmy world was over, right no more
cement.
I wouldn't have it any otherway.
It definitely taught me a lotabout a strong work ethic and
love of the outdoors.
(09:49):
It also taught me about horsesand how to rope and ride and do
these fun range things and vent,fence and put up hay and so on
and so forth and and uh, how topaint yes, I had an interesting
childhood.
My mom was a corrections officerwho was married five times, and
(10:11):
a couple of those gentlemencame from corrections facilities
.
So I went through someheartache, I would say there,
but it was all perfect.
It was all perfect.
Everything led up to the man Iam today, and I like to tell
people your past is perfectbecause it put you where you are
today.
And perfect doesn't meanpleasant, it doesn't mean that,
but it does mean for a lot of usthat it gives you the
(10:34):
opportunity to evolve into thehuman being and either.
It's, pam, something you saidearlier.
I was thinking.
It's not always about whathappened, it's about what
happens after the thing right,how you react to that.
Went to college early, did notend up graduating CSU nor high
(11:08):
school.
Actually, I ended up with thisclose to an associate's degree
and got into the buildingindustry and went to Vail for
five years and learned how tobuild timber, frame and log
homes and all my friends weregraduating with computer science
degrees and a lot of debt andno job, and so when I went to
(11:28):
vale I was like I'm not going tolook back and got a
contractor's license, came backto fort collins and had an
opportunity, ironically, on 9-11, when it actually happened.
I do know where I was becausemy lead carpenter, james Lidzo
his father flew the flight fromPhilly to DC.
(11:51):
That was his flight, the onethat crashed into the Pentagon,
and that gentleman was sittingnext to me as we were driving in
and all this happened and hewas freaking out because he
thought his dad was on the plane.
Turns out, his dad called insick that day of all days, right
, no accidents in the universe.
A little bit later I had abunch of lots in Greeley, a
(12:12):
bunch in Loveland.
My uncles were in real estate.
My uncle called and said Idon't know if it's a good time
for you to be a builder.
I've got somebody who will takeyour lots in Loveland.
Gentleman called the next day,said I'll buy your lots in
Greeley.
And another gentleman calledthe third day and said I heard
you wanted to buy into a realestate company.
Do you still want to do that?
So in three days my lifechanged.
(12:36):
I bought into a real estatecompany and got my insurance
licenses and then ended upgetting my real estate license
25 years ago.
As I like to tell people, it wasmy Friday night essence on
Friday night, or Friday morning,if you're driving to work and
the boss calls and says, hey,take the day off with pay, do
whatever you want to do.
What would you go do?
What are the five things youmight go do when you're like, oh
, I got the day off and it'spaid and do whatever I want?
(12:57):
Well, just so happened thatFriday I was on the phone trying
to do another fix and flip andbuy another house and do another
remodel and all this stuff, andI'm like, well, that's what I
would do.
I'm a deal junkie, I'm going toget into real estate.
I can always go back to being acontractor.
And so that's how I got intoreal estate.
Ironically, it was 25-24 yearsago, right right, when 9-11
happened.
(13:17):
And and uh, like I said, closeto me, because my lead
carpenter's dad flew on thatflight and I have a lot of
friends in in Manhattan too.
So, anyhow, that's a little bitabout my story.
I've uh gone through someintense stuff over my life.
I've've been burned as ateenager, second, third degree
burns all over my hands and face, which taught me how to paint,
(13:41):
because I got grounded for thesummer and had to paint the barn
hand paint the barn for my mom.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
We should probably go back.
The burns were a result of youbeing experiment.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Yes, I had an affinity for, uh, fire, let's
say.
And things went sideways and soI had second, third degree
burns all over my hands and face.
I say weird things, but thingsthat happened.
I was jumped that same year,had all my teeth, all these
teeth, knocked out, my nosebroken.
(14:14):
I had to have all those teethclipped out of braces and put
back in with no Novocaine.
I want to say I've never brokena bone, but earlier this summer
I fell off of a roof and had a200-pound ladder hit me and
shatter my nose and broke it,and it had been broken before.
So I think this time it brokeit the right way and healed it,
(14:36):
if that makes sense.
Perfect.
I feel like I can breathebetter pam, don't feed feed into
that we don't know you.
Yeah, cut my foot with achainsaw.
It just interesting things howto snowboard.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
You cut your foot with a chainsaw, like you, you
just skip.
I got a splinter.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
That was another deal on the farm where my mom was
like hey, I need you to startthe chainsaw.
And I did it without shoes onand the chainsaw started and
then skipped and then went rightacross my foot and I ended up
in the hospital and abnormalthings Later in life.
I was into snowboarding, gotsponsored, won a big air contest
and happened to snap my ACL andwas in pre-op for surgery and
(15:19):
was like I just got sponsored, Ican't do this, I can't be out
for two years, so snowboard foranother couple of years until I
tore my MCL and my meniscus, andthat's when I actually went
back to CSU for a little whileand ended up buying that horse
farm from my parents and theymoved to their ranch and I took
over out there.
But yeah, my upbringing wasinteresting and, my mom being a
(15:42):
corrections officer, I grew uparound the SWAT and the sheriff
and so you know to speak brieflyon what you were talking about
today and my mission now in FlyFishing Saves Lives.
I never want to get political,but the root cause of so much of
this is mental health.
It truly is.
It truly is people's mentalhealth because, whether they had
(16:06):
a weapon or not, somewhereinside their mind at some point
they thought to themselves.
This makes sense to me.
This is the right thing to doIn my case, with Project Healing
Waters and helping them 22veterans a day at some point the
right thing to do is to take myown life because there's no
other out.
And that is not a gun controlthing, right.
(16:30):
Nor was the shootings, nor wasthis assassination.
This is a mental health crisisand part of my goal is to help
address that at the root cause,because I can't swear to it, but
I do believe that quitepossibly people who are
suffering from that, even ifguns were entirely illegal would
(16:53):
find a way to do harm maybe notwith a gun, but to do harm to
themselves or others and we haveto have compassion for those
people, because we all gothrough stuff, right.
That's why we're here reigniteresilience.
What have you gone through?
It's never about the thing, it'salways what happens after the
(17:13):
thing and how did you react toit and how did you deal with it.
What kind of support system didyou have?
What kind of resources did youhave?
There is a lot of resources,but there's a lot of
marginalized communities thatdon't have access to those
resources, and that's part of mymission lately with Fly Fishing
Saves Lives and being, as youmentioned, a certified guide.
(17:35):
Lately, with Fly Fishing SavesLives and being, as you
mentioned, a certified guide, Ihad my first paying client this
year.
In however, many years I'vebeen doing this many, many years
, because I normally don'tcharge I've taken a lot of
cancer survivors, a lot ofveterans, a lot of people with
different disabilities out onthe water.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I typically don't ask for payment.
So Well, I think, as you buildout or you share with us, like
how you've built out, FlyFishing Saves Lives.
I think it's important for usto take it back like your
introduction to fly fishing andwhen that became part of your
life and it became a normal partof your life.
Because when you talk aboutthat Friday, like the Friday,
like you get the call, what areyou going to do?
I know what your answer wouldprobably be today Not probably,
(18:19):
it is the answer always but howdo you get to that point where
you realize that it's not simplyjust the sport of fly fishing
but all of the additionalbenefits?
So kind of talk to us aboutyour journey through fly fishing
and how it was introduced andall of that.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Thank you.
Thank you for bringing that up.
I was introduced to the sportof fly fishing from my
grandfather and when you'reyounger and your patience might
not be, Developed, yet Mightstill be the same today.
Honestly, but when your patienceis a little less than it's
(18:54):
easier to go back to what youknow, which at the time for me
was more traditional gear andbait fishing, and you know I'm
here to catch fish.
But then over time I continuedto learn about the sport and go
with my grandfather and now, asyou pointed out, I began to
appreciate all aspects of it andso I try and share with people.
(19:17):
You know it's a lot like lifeand the universe and how you
look at things and the positiveoutlook.
I don't think you're going tomeet a fly fisherman who doesn't
have hope, because every daymight be your best day on the
water and you go and so much ofit is the preparation.
(19:37):
And I say fly fisher man, flyfisher person Women are the
fastest growing segment of thesport.
You enjoy the preparation, youenjoy getting your gear ready,
you enjoy the drive, most people.
You enjoy the outdoors.
Once you're there, the serenityyou get into the water.
Everything in my world,everything is energy.
(19:57):
The water has its own energy.
It can touch you and move youand then you're immersed in here
in this moment, in the now.
And, pam, I know you did asilent retreat.
(20:18):
There's silence but there's thesounds of nature, right the
water and the wind and maybe thebirds.
And even if you're with friends, many times you can't fish the
same section.
Or if you do, you're watching,but you present this offering to
the fish watching.
(20:39):
But you present this offeringto the fish, just like you
present your gifts to the world.
And you don't know what's goingto happen in fly fishing.
You don't know.
You put it out there and you'relike, oh my gosh, are they
going to take it?
Are they not going to take it?
That was such a great cast.
I'm so excited and you don'tactually know.
And then maybe they do, andthen you lose the fish, but
you're right back at it and youdon't actually know.
And then maybe they do, andthen you lose the fish and but
you, you're like, you're rightback at it and you don't quit
(21:00):
most people.
You're like, okay, I didn'tcatch one, but I'm so excited to
be here, I just want to tryagain and again, and that's part
of the therapeutic nature of itand and the presence of being
right there.
In that moment, you can'treally be anywhere else.
There's a meme about that.
When you're out there andyou're fishing In fly fishing,
(21:20):
we have indicators.
They're kind of like a bobberand you're like, oh, okay, stare
at the indicator, stare at theindicator.
Stare at the indicator.
And you're like, oh, an eagle,bobber down, damn it.
Oh, okay, okay, damn it.
Okay, okay, stare at theindicator, stare at the
indicator, stare at theindicator.
Should I have a sip of beer?
(21:41):
Oh, bobber down.
Oh, they know right, totally.
So.
My journey into fly fishing atfirst was one of learning
patience, and now it's.
And then you start to want togo because you want to catch
fish, you want to be with yourfriends and you want to have
this experience.
And then it evolved, natalie,into the whole experience.
And now I equivocally enjoyseeing other people go out and
(22:05):
taking them, especiallyfirst-timers, and watching the
wonder and the mystery and andwatching it unfold for them,
because you get to experience itthrough through their eyes,
right, and sometimes it allclicks.
We all know a gentleman namedjohn simmons.
He took me on a bucket listitem belongs peak but I took him
(22:28):
fly fishing for his first timein steamboat and we had one of
those days where we caught, wedid, we caught every fish in the
river.
We caught so many fish and Itried to tell them.
It's not like this.
I mean, it's like this today,yeah, but this is a day that's
going to go down in history,even for me.
So, and now he fly fishesactually quite a bit, which I
(22:51):
love, love seeing, but thewonder and the magic that
happens out there is sophenomenal.
And so my journey it's been andit's evolved even more thanks to
people like Natalie.
Really quick story I was outwith a friend, a good friend
that I fly fish with all overthe United States, and we were
on a piece of water that youdon't get to fish very often
(23:12):
it's only about three weeks outof the year and you got to have
an expert oarsman to help you orknow how to do it yourself,
which you would only know if youdid it a hundred times.
And anyhow, we were out on thewater and on the phone and she
hears him cussing at the fishright and, and he is not happy
(23:35):
and there's some expletives andfishermen know what they are
fisher people it's like a commoncatchphrase it's a common
catchphrase.
I'm not going to say the actualword, but it's f these fish, yes
, which?
is also a term of endearment forthe fish that are harder to
catch and and you're like getthose fish, but tomorrow I'm
(23:57):
going to go back and try again,but still, and she said joyful
energy, don't cuss at them,don't call them names, have
joyful energy.
And it was on speakerphone andthe guide heard it, mark heard
it, I heard it.
And ever since then and it'sbeen three years maybe joyful
(24:18):
energy you put joyful energyinto the water, into the fishing
, and it comes back to you.
Yeah, even if you don't catchfish, this joyful energy comes
back and, uh, and it's beautiful, it's beautiful it changes the
entire temperament of theexperience.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Right, that's.
Even pam got to hear ourfishing adventure, our first
fishing adventure at you as aguide and me as being the fly
fisher woman that you weretaking out, and we can share
that with our listeners as well.
But even in scenarios like that, like it's, we can choose to be
upset or, you know, be angry orwhat have you, or just like
(24:59):
well, that's one for the books.
That's never happened before.
I'd knock on wood that itdoesn't ever happen again.
Why don't we share that story?
Your first trip out as a trueofficial guide, I didn't pay.
I think this was part of yourcoursework, so I didn't pay.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
My guide friends around the world.
I apologize in advance.
Those of you who know me knowthat I used to joke and say it's
always the guide's fault.
It's always the guide's fault.
You don't catch fish guide'sfault, tornado guide's fault.
Weather sucks, wind comes, rainguide's fault.
That's on you.
You fall in the river.
(25:35):
That's still the guide's faultUntil you become a guide.
And then our first foray outout.
We got caught in a massive,massive hailstorm for over an
hour probably golf ball sizehail.
Marvel, the golf ball size hailended up in a duck line with 10
other people and the hail'scoming down and people are
(25:57):
shivering and there's justdoesn't seem to be an end in
sight.
And Natalie looks at me and shegoes.
So is this the guy's fault?
Is this your fault?
I'm like yep, yep, there is.
We're all huddled in this duck,blind on private ranch that
we're not supposed to be in,trying not to get hit by
lightning and hail.
And that's definitely my fault.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
That's totally the experience, because here I am
and I have to say that you didset me up for success, all of
the things that were importantto me.
We're going to have snacks.
I had a very cute outfit.
Yes, it was a lovely time ofday, right Like the drive was
beautiful.
I was like sold, I'm in, let'sdo it.
And we see the clouds coming in.
I also learned that you're notsupposed to talk about rain or
(26:40):
wind or anything when you're outon the water, and so we see the
clouds come in.
And some of the folks that wereon the river that day, they were
like we're going to outrun it.
And that was like my sign.
That was like red flag numberone.
I was like you're going tooutrun what?
Like?
What are we?
What are we outrunning?
And so we didn't.
We did not outrun it.
We're like we're just going tocontinue to go down the river,
(27:05):
it'll be fine.
And then the skies opened withhail and and baron, you're
exactly right like I'm lookingat the sign that's clearly
posted private property, butit's a nice duck blind that
looks like it's safer thangetting a concussion from hail
on a river.
So the other turns out later.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
The other guy said they they ended up flipping over
their boats and hiding undertheir boats better.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yes, yeah, but the deadline was it right, so the
dust line was in trouble.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
Typical fashion, for me, at least, there's no accents
in the universe as these peoplewere filing in.
Sure enough, here comes afriend of mine, you know mike,
who's been on the one.
He's like hey, bear I'm like,hey, how you doing, come on in,
let's go.
Yeah, no problem, and we're in.
You know, mike, who's been onthe one, he's like, hey, bear,
I'm like, hey, how you doing,come on in, let's go.
Yeah, no problem, and we're in.
You know nowhere, wyoming justran into the property and the
other day I was up at some somesecret spot and ran into my 89
(27:54):
year old cousin out on the water.
Just come back from the honorflight for veterans, yeah, so.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
I love this story because, you know, I think so
often people are focused on theoutcome, like I'm going to catch
a fish that they misseverything that's leading up to
it.
You know, like you said, thebeauty of every preparing for it
, the drive, just all of thatstuff, because a lot of times I
know Natalie and I have traveledtogether.
(28:21):
Some of my best memories werewhen we're like the curveballs?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
yeah, exactly, it's like when do we get the
curveball?
And then that's what makes itridiculous.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
That's what we remember, not like the amazing
castle we went through orwhatever.
No, it's the car rolling downthe hill because somebody forgot
to put the brake on the trip.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Trip in Morocco.
Yeah, after that, the sun cameout, rainbows came out.
We had a beautiful boat ride.
Later that day, miss Natalie'sin a hammock by the river
reading a book, you know, andI'm still in the water.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Of course I'd had enough.
I was like does that fulfillthe requirements for the course?
Yes, done, I'm done, I'll be inthe hammock.
Does that fulfill?
Speaker 3 (28:59):
the requirements for the course.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yes, done, I'm done, I'll be in the hammer.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
What you said lately this has been on my heart a lot
is, you know, it isn't about thedestination, it is about the
journey.
Kurt Dieter was just on, whoyou don't know, but he runs
FlyLab and Ingrid Trade Mediaand he was talking about don't
be a fish counter.
He said he was in a shop andthe guy was like, hey, my sons
(29:25):
are going with their pain, theywant to catch a lot of fish,
make sure they catch them.
And he was like you know, maybewe'll see a bald eagle, maybe
we'll see a moose and hopefullywe catch some fish.
But if they don't enjoy therest of that, then maybe fly
fishing isn't for them andthat's okay.
But it's not the light at theend of the tunnel.
That's the illusion.
Right, it's the tunnel, that'sthe illusion, and the light
(29:49):
actually comes from you.
It comes from you.
That shining light is how youshow up, what intention you show
up with.
I know some fishy dudes, fishywomen, who show up with the best
attitude and the wrong flies,flies that they tied, that
(30:12):
shouldn't catch fish, theyreally shouldn't.
But they have this shininglight and this intention and
they're here to enjoy it andthey tend to catch more fish
than everybody else, of course,and they show up with that, and
it's just a completely differentexperience, because it it is
about the experience.
(30:32):
I've been out like.
I've rescued a baby goat backto a rancher, I got to literally
almost pet a baby, a newbornbaby, baby elk.
I've run into moose All ofthese things that have nothing
to do with catching fish, buteverything to do with the
experience itself.
Right yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Well, what's funny, everything that you've been
talking, not once have youtalked about the fish that you
caught.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Yeah, no.
And you know, what'sinteresting is the ones that you
catch, like when you weresaying when you're traveling,
it's the crazy stuff thathappens, the memories.
And I can promise you, for mostfishermen, however they fish,
it's not the ones they caughtthat they remember the most.
It's the one that got away,it's the one that they lost, or
(31:21):
the one that they almost caught,or the one that had this
terrific eat and miss the fly,but you got to see it and it was
just so.
It just.
It burns in your memory rightand you talk about it for years
to come.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Thank you for joining us today on the Reignite
Resilience Podcast.
We hope you had some ahamoments and learned a few new
real life ideas.
To fuel the flames of passion,please subscribe on your
favorite streaming platform,like or download your favorite
episodes and, of course, sharewith your friends and family.
We look forward to seeing youagain next time on Reignite
(31:59):
Resilience.
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com