Sunday Night With John: The Beauty of Fly Fishing trumped by a Mcdonald's drive-thru

I get it now, all the poetic waxing about fly fishing. The hypnotic motions of the fisherman are relaxing and the closest thing I’ve seen to active meditation. I spent last weekend in a place called Brule River. My in-laws have raved about this little slice of Wisconsin since I started hanging around years ago. I finally took my maiden voyage on the Brule River for a canoe trip with four friends. I immediately jumped on the Brule bandwagon. This was one of the most peaceful, intimate, and beautiful places I have ever laid my eyes on. My in-laws somehow undersold how cool this place was.

After two days of canoeing past Cedar Island, the Mar-A-Largo of Calvin Coolidge’s presidency, and taking on a very small rapids, we had had our fill of canoeing. My brother-in-law and the weather, a chilly 30 degrees, swayed us to go fishing for the day. I sat on the bank of the Brule River and observed him cast his fly fishing rod over and over again. It was peaceful, and while I will never be a fisherman, I finally completely understood why people take up fishing. The peace, beauty, and recharging of the soul is unmatched

That is unless you happen to go through a drive thru at McDonald's on your way out of town for a trip to the Brule River. I spent last summer interning at the homeless shelter and assisting homeless people land jobs. Often times I would only see people once or twice and then they would stop coming to the job lab. I would wonder what had happened to them. Did they land a job? Did they return to being homeless? It’s a tough population to have an impact on because so many life variables are up in the air.

As I pulled up to the window to receive my not-so-healthy quick lunch before heading out of town, I looked into the McDonald's and at the window was a former resident of the homeless shelter. She smiled like she remembered me but could not place where she'd seen me. I smiled because I remembered her. I had entertained her two-year-old while she filled out job applications. She, like many others, just stopped coming to the job-Lab one day, and this moment proved I had helped. She had a job and was attempting to put her life back together. That is why you help others, not for the feeling you get while helping out, not to pound your chest and say, “I help people for a living.” It’s for the moment you run into a person you used to help and they are doing so well they no longer need your help. The peace, beauty, and recharging of the soul is unmatched.