Jenny O’Brien: “Common Hopes for the River We All Love”
All smiles, despite the chill: DRA Board Members Amy Hazel and Jenny O’Brien grinning like it’s July, plying the lower Deschutes on a decidedly un-summer day.
The Perfect Place
This week’s blog, and invitation to join her at the DRA auction on 2/22, is written by DRA Board Member Jenny O’Brien.
Like many of our supporters, the lower Deschutes River provides respite for me from pressure of work responsibilities. It's the perfect place to escape from the demands of email, device screens and being “connected” to some form of technology at all times. By losing service on my phone, I am gaining so much more; the world slows down and I can hear myself think more clearly.
I was nearing the end of my company’s fiscal year and feeling the pressure of landing a few more deals to hit my sales quota. Anyone who works in sales will tell you the last-minute push is always a grind, and it can be difficult to make time for things outside of work. With some encouragement by my dear friend, Amy Hazel, and a gentle ushering out the door by my husband, I stepped out of the office and made the trek to Maupin for a weekend, leaving my laptop behind (which is hard to do!). It was perfect timing as Amy was also very much deserving of some river time as she prepared for the upcoming holiday season and flurry of online orders and patrons at Deschutes Angler.
Fine Friend, Fabulous Fish
After a lovely evening spent catching up with Amy and John, we awoke the next day with optimism and excitement. Not only were we planning to poke around a few spots in hopes of encountering a steelhead or two, we were truly grateful for the quality time together. The river has a wonderful way of bringing like-minded people together over shared passion for the outdoors. The lower Deschutes River has brought some of the best, most special people into my life and I will forever be grateful for that. On this day, I got to ramble down the access road with one of my best friends, hot coffee in-hand, witnessing the wildlife and peacefulness along the way.
We fished a few runs and decided to make one more stop before heading back to town. In true Amy fashion, she generously allowed me to fish a really beautiful piece of water while she waited on the road, binoculars in hand, searching for birds. As many anglers know, fishing good water can mean you’re also navigating a tough wade on the Deschutes. Boulders appear out of nowhere, drop offs catch you by surprise, tree branches seem to reach out for your line, and you may end up with a bit of chilly water down your waders. But like the river itself, we persist.
Rosy-cheeked, still determined to fight, a Deschutes steelhead goes nearly cross-eyed trying to figure out how a green-butt skunk managed drag him all over the river.
Help Make More River Memories: Come to the Auction 2/22
I got to the end of the run and found a stable boulder to station cast my 2023 custom DRA Burkheimer spey rod that I scored from the DRA auction that year (check out this year’s auction packages!). I had one or two more casts before the end of the run and with a little Irish luck, I felt my line go tight and start peeling off the reel, revealing a beautiful buck steelhead leaping from the middle of the river. I screamed out in joy, Amy screamed back with the same excitement and made her way down the embankment to help me. A couple of minutes seemed like an eternity and with her help, we safely landed and released a beautiful wild Deschutes River steelhead. At that moment, I felt joyful tears well up in my eyes. My heart and soul needed that special moment. For the first time in a while, I was able to be fully present, celebrating with one of my closest friends, encountering a beautiful wild steelhead, on my favorite river in the world.
Experiences and memories like this are why I joined the Board of Directors for the Deschutes River Alliance. By recreating on or around the river, it becomes our responsibility to protect it to the best of our ability. I believe we all want the best for the river and the wildlife that depends on it. I am hopeful we can work together towards having more special memories with our loved ones and safeguarding this gem of a waterway for future generations.
The DRA's auction not only provides a very significant boost to the organization's annual budget, but it's a chance to be inspired by 300 or so of us that share not only common memories, but common hopes for the river we all love. We look forward to seeing some friendly and new faces on February 22nd. If you’ve yet to purchase a ticket, please consider joining us as you’ll be in good company with other river lovers like yourself. You can expect to enjoy constructive conversation, learn more about what is being done to protect the Lower Deschutes River today, and how you personally can lend a hand to create a brighter future, full of colder, cleaner water.
We’ll see you there!
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