In this episode, Jim talks about his passion for fishing.
Podcast Transcription:
WRVO Producer Mark Lavonier:
This podcast is one in a series titled, From the Soil with Sollecito, hosted by lifetime senior certified landscape professional Jim Sollecito of Sollecito Landscaping Nursery, Hallock Hill Road, Syracuse. These commentaries focus on landscape management practices that use only natural products and methods, safe for the environment, and that bring beauty to the landscape. And now Jim Sollecito.
Jim Sollecito:
There are two tangible things in my life that are a testament to my faith: planting and fishing. They are tantamount to religion for me—a real affirmation that if we truly believe, it will probably happen, although maybe not in the form we expected. Sometimes life just happens. “If we concentrated on the really important things in life, there would be a shortage of fishing poles.”
I ran into these words a while back, and while they've stuck with me ever since, they really do have meaning. It always seems to be about having time; if we don't find time, we have to make it. This past spring, some not-so-recently retired landscape clients were at my garden center looking over plants that we would install for them. They brought their dog and two granddaughters. One was radically visually impaired. She seemed to enjoy the sensory experience of smelling and feeling the various plants, particularly those with textural contrast.
Before they left, my wife inquired if 13-year-old Kirsten Hunter had ever been bass fishing. She said no, but she'd love to try. I called them that very evening, and we set a workable date for everyone in about a month. Then we went back to life as we know it, in the springtime, selling trees and shrubs while sharing our plant knowledge and experience. When that day finally came, I met them at our pond and was immediately struck by how the unaffected senses Kirsten possessed were strengthened. She literally could taste the wind as much as my red raspberries; she sensed the water even before we ventured close, hearing the frogs and insects.
She listened to fish rising, the swallows swooping to catch the bugs. She felt the wooden dock through her flip-flops. She reveled in things I had pretty much taken for granted. Tentative at first, she eagerly handled my five-weight fly rod as I instructed—neither too loose nor too tight. 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock: the rhythm of the fly cast is an art form, just like pruning. Her enthusiasm was contagious. I could feel it. Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm.
We cast together, and she said she knew she would catch something because she had faith in me. And then it happened. She felt the tug of the line as the bass ran with the fly. Immediately, she was hooked more than the fish was. As she raised it up for a photo, I noticed she smelled it and gently stroked it before we released it back into the water. I think that 13-inch largemouth maybe weighed a pound; my smile weighed about five. After she caught maybe 15 one-pound bass, she asked if her nine-year-old sister Sydney could have a turn.
True vision is a matter of the heart, not the eyes. At the end of the evening, I learned that insight is greater than eyesight. I gave and received a lesson; we're now friends. As for the other part of my religion—the new planting season—I can hardly wait to put a shovel in the ground. The soil is warm, we get ample rains, sunshine means the days are longer. We get a greater appreciation for available light. Landscape plants love being planted right now. Their roots can go crazy.
Planting and fishing have brought Kirsten and me together from the get-go. It was amazing the impact that one evening had on me. She was blind, but now I see.
WRVO Producer Mark Lavonier:
From the Soil with Sollecito is a production of WRVO Public Media. If you have a question for Jim about your home landscaping, visit sollecito.com and click on contact or call 315-468-1142.
