A Day in the Life …
I mostly make these blog entries and do some of the webpage content for Angler’s Covey, but Saturday I had the chance to spend the day in the Shop. My task was to restock the fly bins. Let me just say – dang, there are a lot of flies to be flung at hungry fish! But that’s a focus for a different day and a different blog. I wanted to give a little shout out to customers and staff who are still making this adventure a possibility even under weird circumstances.
We are practicing COVID-19 protocols. When customers arrive at the store, they are first asked to head to the bathroom and wash their hands. Then they wait at the front “foyer” area of the Shop so that we can ensure that customers can maintain some safe distance from other customers and staff. Some may see these practices as inconvenient, and we do know they add a level of “wait time” before entering the shop. We do ask customers to wear a mask while in the Shop and will provide customers with a mask if they need one.
Some people have been a little resistant, particularly to the mask-wearing. We get it. It’s so far out of the norm. And maybe some folks feel they’re unnecessary and are a little skeptical of the whole COVID-19 thing itself. We understand that, too.
But (there had to be a “but,” right?) we want to ensure that ALL of our customers and clients feel safe. We are keeping the health of customers and staff in the forefront of all of our decisions. Our staff uses hand-sanitizer between transactions. We use Lysol sanitizer for our common surface. We even wash down the tweezers used to make fly selections. (Did I mention the kabillion flies I restocked on Saturday?)
“Guide trips have felt very different to me since the virus stuff,” says Jon Easdon, Director of Services. “They mean more. It’s been pretty profound how my clients have also seemed to be in a different zone, too. The saying “trout live in beautiful places, don’t forget to look around” is so true right now. I’ve been more appreciative of being outside and guide trips have been little pieces of serenity for me as well as my clients.
It’s helped the fishing has been really good, but its been more than that. No moment of it has been taken for granted. It got me thinking how difficult it is to be in the moment, to truly exist in that very moment.
Guiding has been a passion of mine for awhile now. Now, more than ever, it just feels really special to share those moments with people in the midst of all of this chaos. It’s shown me that serenity can exist smack dab in the middle of the insanity. And that’s been a pretty cool revelation actually.”
We had a steady flow of customers through the Shop on Saturday. We want to thank you for keeping us part of your fly fishing adventure and for supporting small, local businesses.
As we follow the direction from the State and from the Governor’s office, we will practice these protocols. We anticipate that there will be some changes toward Memorial Day weekend and the first of June.
Swing by the Shop for your angling needs or place an order for curbside pick-up! See our updated policies here.