Leaf and Blender

Yuba River, August



This video was made using a small-sized digital camera that was stuffed into a peanut butter jar and stabilized by my underwear. Without the underwear, the camera would have spun inside of the jar, but with it, the image stayed pretty steady.

Butterfly Fishing

Last Thursday night, I had this dream that I had entered a fly fishing contest, even though I've never fly fished, ever. A few months ago in real life, I found an enormous Luna Moth at an antique show that was dying in some mud in front of a dilapidated snack booth. The moth had been stepped on like nine times, but it was really beautiful and dignified, so I took it out into the woods nearby, set it on a leaf, said a little faux prayer, and went on my way. In the dream, the moth had escaped from the world of the dead and came to me as a ghost hoping to be my special contest fly. It explained that we would be a great team, and that it would be my secret weapon. I agreed, and tied the moth to my line.

The contest was scheduled to take place at a park in my hometown where, when I was three, I got into a really bad swing accident that resulted in the addition of 72 stitches just below my left eye. In the dream, when I arrived at the contest, I learned that the judges had changed the rules at the last minute. Instead of fishing, contestants were to perform tricks. Soon, people were tight rope walking on their fishing lines, doing fisherman's double-dutch, and balancing tackle bags on their foreheads. I proudly carried my moth through the crowd as onlookers began to comment on my "pretty little butterfly." "He's a moth." I corrected them, "A ghost moth."

When it was our turn, the Luna Moth turned to me from his place at the end of my line and made a move to show me that we were going to fly. Just as I was about to protest, since I was really confused, he pulled me up into the air and towed me over the swing sets. We started flying over the playground. Flapping his wings back and forth to communicate, he showed me how to hold the fishing pole taut while he was flying, and then let some slack from the reel so that he could rest for a second before opening his wings like a parachute so we could float. If I cast the line up over my head, the ghost moth would beat his wings and hold his position in the air like a grappling hook while I reeled myself toward him to fly upward. Somehow my pole was outfitted with a special reel that allowed me to pull myself really quickly through the sky. By casting him ahead of me over and over, we could fly however fast we liked.

At first, we could still see the awestruck look on the crowd's face from above the park, but once I got the hang of casting, we flew all over town, checking everything out and having a really good time. Forgetting all about the contest, we flew around all day and all night. I remember dropping down into the Yuba River canyon and flying over pine trees with stars all around. I also remember that by nightfall, my arm was really sore, but we kept flying anyway. The End.
 
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