Lamenting Summers End

I originally posted this on Westfly last October but I think it's appropriate for the way I feel as the winter descends upon not only my fishing but my soul.
Gone are the days where you can still tie on a size 20 at 9pm...sigh... I'm going to miss them. As I head into the late fall and then the winter I can't help but be a little sad. Sure I can still toss my flies in any number of rivers or lakes but the days of wet wading and short pants are gone for awhile. It won't be long until Hosmer and East Lakes are snowed in and the endless rains of December and January will make me look longingly at my three weight.
The end of summer makes me think about the trout of the spring and summer and wondering what the "off" season will bring.
I'll think about that surprise steelhead I caught on the Wilson just before the floods and I wonder how changed the rivers will be when and if they drop.I think about the big coastal cutthroat I caught on my new three weight Hoffman bamboo on my birthday or the many cutthroat trout that swam from the depths of a north coast river to smack my reverse spider. I'll think about my friends whose companionship made even the fishless trips more enjoyable.
Never thought I would see the day when I was actually sad to see the warm weather end. My long career in both an aluminum foundry and then an non air conditioned machine shop made me dread even the eighty degree days.Now being retired I look forward to all but the warmest of days. I really dislike short days when it's dark at 5PM.
So now it's close to time to think about getting my fly deep enough to entice a winter steelhead and maybe brave a mid-winter trip east for some cold weather trout fishing.
Thinking about those warm days just passed will sustain me until spring.

"Unless one can enjoy himself fishing with the fly, even when his efforts are unrewarded, he loses much real pleasure. More than half the intense enjoyment of fly-fishing is derived from the beautiful surroundings, the satisfaction felt from being in the open air, the new lease of life secured thereby, and the many, many pleasant recollections of all one has seen, heard and done." - Charles F. Orvis