Smoky Mountains National Park...

For several years now, a group of us - all Ordained around the same time - have been taking a week's trip together during the summertime. The purpose was originally to go whitewater rafting, risk our lives, and live to tell the story. However, with age comes a certain amount of wisdom... Now that we're getting older, the focus of our summer trip has shifted. Once it was about "staring death in the face," but now it's more about getting away: taking a break from our pastoral assignments, relaxing, and fostering priestly fraternity. Instead of paddling through class V rapids, we're taking things a bit more slowly these days.

Such was the case this past week. For our yearly trip, we rented a cabin overlooking the Smoky Mountains National Park. With an abundance of good fishing opportunities, two of us (Fr. John and myself) took to the rivers and creeks of the park in search of rainbow trout. We found ample numbers, with Fr. John taking the first (and largest) fish of the trip: a 15" rainbow that was hiding under the first rapid we cast to. Our guide Brad, from Smoky Mountain Angler, ran us up and down the river: over boulders, through rapids, and across the mountainous terrain to find a good number of beautiful rainbow trout. It was a week of beautiful scenery, good food, and good company. I'm already looking forward to next year...