An Outdoor View: Distractions

While mindlessly surfing the Net the other day, I got to thinking about distractions.

According to Macmillan Dictionary, a distraction is “something that gets your attention and prevents you from concentrating on something else.” It’s also “an activity that you can do for fun or entertainment.” In other words, if you’re fishing, and the guy standing beside you is talking on his cell phone, he’s distracting you from your distraction.

To someone catching fish and releasing them just for the fun of it, a sea lion stealing the fish would be a relatively minor distraction. But to someone who depends upon fish for food, a sea lion would be a major distraction.

As a boy, I used to lie on my back in the grass, searching billowy clouds for animals and other shapes. Kids nowadays spend their time texting, gaming and visiting “friends” on Facebook. Are distractions in the form of gadgets taking the place of our imaginations? Are all those images in the clouds just going to waste?

Distractions have severely damaged good manners. TV put a dent in them, but the smart phone, being so portable and so capable of multiple uses, is a real culture-changer. We seem to be giving up all pretenses of politeness. To me, it’s rude to be on your smart phone while the rest of your family is watching TV while eating dinner, but I may be a bit behind in what’s trending.

Distractions can be useful. Let’s say you’re flipping flies for sockeyes, and the guy beside you says you’re too close. He’s worries that you’ll hook him. The next thing you know, you’ve set the hook in his ear. That’s when you need a good distraction. Try yelling “Bear! Bear!” and pointing behind him. That’ll distract him long enough for you to get a good head start.

Another kind of distraction is when someone horns in on your fishing spot. Depending on the size and demeanor of the perp, you might feel everything from anxiety to anger. One way to resolve this situation would be to fight distraction with distraction. You could point behind the intruder and yell, “Bear! Bear!” When he looks, you take back your fishing spot. It won’t work every time, but it’s worth a try.

Distractions can destroy any pretense of a wilderness experience. At 4 a.m. one July morning, I went fishing for Kenai River sockeyes in the Sterling area. The only reason I was up that early was to have some peace and quiet. I no sooner started fishing when the distractions began. The first was the persistent crowing of a rooster across the river. Then, just as the rooster had signed off for the day, a woman emerged from a nearby cabin and engaged in a long and loud cell-phone conversation. Disgusted, I went home to check my emails and play a game of on-line Boggle.

Distractions can be good and bad. A good distraction on the river might be looking up from tying on a new fly and having an attractive woman walk right up to you, smile, and say, “Hi, sailor.” A bad distraction might be if your wife is standing right behind you, and the attractive woman is or was your girlfriend.

Distractions apparently cause great suffering to anglers who fish in tournaments. In a Sept. 9, 2016 blog, Patrick Pierce, who competes in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens, wrote: “Things like families, kids, jobs, weddings, funerals, oil changes, doctor appointments, band recitals, soccer games, football season, sponsor obligations, birthday parties and electric bills all conspire to take our minds off fishing.”

One of the best things about distractions is their ability to take our minds off unpleasant things. My dentist likes to talk about fishing. Sometimes I’m unable to respond, but that’s OK. When I’m thinking about fishing, I’m feeling no pain.

It has been said — and I believe it — that many wars have been started because someone needed a distraction.

Humans are always wondering about the purpose of life. I’m just casting this out there to see if anything bites, but could it be possible that life is just one big distraction?

Les Palmer can be reached at les.palmer@rocketmail.com.

More in Life

Will Morrow (courtesy)
Springing ahead

I’m not ready to spring ahead

Murder suspect William Dempsey is pictured shortly after he was captured on the outskirts of Seward in early September 1919. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 8

Dempsey spent more than a decade attempting to persuade a judge to recommend him for executive clemency

Promotional image via the Performing Arts Society
Saturday concert puts jazz, attitude on stage

Lohmeyer is a former local music teacher

The author holds a copy of Greta Thunberg’s, “No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference,” inside the Peninsula Clarion building on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Off the Shelf: Thunberg speeches pack a punch

“No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference” is a compilation of 16 essays given by the climate activist

White chocolate cranberry cake is served with fresh cranberries. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Hard-to-ruin cranberry cake

This white chocolate cranberry cake is easy to make and hard to ruin — perfect for my students aged 3, 6, 7 and 7.

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)
Life in the Pedestrian Lane: It’s March

March is the trickster month, probably why we see so much raven activity these days

After Pres. Woodrow Wilson commuted his death sentence to life in prison, William Dempsey (inmate #3572) was delivered from Alaska to the federal penitentiary on McNeil Island, Wash. These were his intake photos. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 7

The opening line of Dempsey’s first letter to Bunnell — dated March 19, 1926 — got right to the point

Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel in “The Last of Us.” (Photo courtesy HBO)
On the Screen: ‘The Last of Us’ perfectly adapts a masterpiece

HBO unquestionably knew they had a hit on their hands

Chocolate cake is topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
A cake topped with love (and white chocolate cream cheese)

He loved the frosting so much he said he never wants anything else on his cake

In 1914, Pres. Woodrow Wilson appointed Charles Bunnell to be the judge of the Federal District Court for the Third and Fourth divisions of the Alaska Territory. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 6

Prosecution lawyers were fortunate to have a fallback plan: witnesses to the crime.

The author displays her daily vitamin, three yellowish clear bubbles of Vitamin D, and 20 mg of Paxil. (Photo by Meredith Harber/Minister’s Message)
Minister’s Message: Accepting all parts of your story of growth

I started taking Paxil almost six years ago, after a lifelong struggle with anxiety and depression

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion 
A copy of Marie Aubert’s “Grown Ups” sits on a desk in The Peninsula Clarion building on Wednesday in Kenai.
Off the Shelf: Good for her

Marie Aubert’s “Grown Ups” caught my attention with a flashy cover and a review from Independent Ireland on the cover