A friend on Facebook recently reached out to me and offered to trade a hunt in Idaho for a bamboo fly rod.  Who in their right mind would turn that offer down?  I probably would have taken Matt bird hunting without the bamboo rod, but my momma didn’t raise no dummy, so I gratefully accepted the offer.  

The three-piece rod came that same week and I was amazed at the craftsmanship and beauty.  There’s just something special about split cane rods.  And what better fish to try them on than the Yellowstone Cutthroat of my beloved Trickle Creek?  This, my friends, is a match made in heaven, but more on that later. 

The bamboo rod alone was more than enough, but, after reading my fly fishing book, Heaven on Earth: Stories of Fly Fishing, Fun & Faith, my new friend Matt also sent me a little book entitled: Life’s Extras by none other than the first Poet Laureate of South Carolina, Archibald Rutledge, who I have been reading a lot of lately after learning that Rutledge was also a grouse hunter.  I was unfamiliar with the book that Matt sent, but his note in the front page intrigued me: 

Andrew, 

Your fly fishing & faith book inspired me to send this book your way.  The author, for whom my Setter is named, was our State’s first Poet Laureate.  

   I am a Doubting Thomas, and the first story in this book gives me the evidence I need to believe in God and His love for us.  

Best Regards, 

Matt 

The next morning, I picked up Life’s Extras and read the first chapter as my daily devotional.  The book did not disappoint.  In the first chapter, Rutledge tells of a wise man riding on the same train as Rutledge who, after observing numerous cattle and a pasture full of daisies, proclaimed: 

Look at those little daisies . . . .Many people think them useless, beneath their notice.  Materially they are, but spiritually they are priceless; for they manifest a Power that understands the hunger of our souls for beauty, for “the city not made with hands.” And that Power generously and sensitively supplies it. Somehow, . . . mere cattle and the solid abundance of money and food that they represent cannot greatly thrill me.  There is more hope for humanity in a wild flower than in tons of beef.

Rutledge then pointed out that wild flowers were what he coined as “life’s extras” and he stated: 

The more I thought about this, the more it appeared to me that Creation supplies us with only two kinds of things: necessities and extras.  Sunlight, air, water, food, shelter–-these are among the bare necessities. With them we can exist.  But moonlight and starlight are distinctly extras; so are music, the perfumes, flowers.  

After sharing some powerful examples of life’s extras, Rutledge concluded: “At any rate, I know that a thoughtful consideration of life’s extras has done more to give my faith in God actual conviction than all the sermons I ever heard. . . . I am absolutely unshaken in my faith that God created us, loves us, and wants us not only to be good but to be happy.”  I could definitely relate to this moving sentiment.  I ended up reading the whole book in one day.    

On Thursday, July 3, 2025, I snuck away from work at noon and decided to take my new bamboo rod up to my favorite cutthroat stream.  Upon reaching my destination, I put together and strung up the bamboo rod and tied on a Renegade.  After crossing the barbed-wire fence, I stepped into the stream and immediately saw many cutthroat in a shallow riffle.  I cast the fly to the fish, one took, but I was slow and missed on the strike.  The fish spooked.  

Usually, I am a run-and-gun kind of angler, moving quickly up a stretch of creek.  However, holding that beautiful, handmade bamboo rod made me want to slow down and savor the experience.  The wild daisies along the creek were in full bloom and their beauty was not lost on me.  Reflecting on the moment and the past, I realized that my favorite times on the creek are when the wild daisies are in full bloom.      

 As I stepped up to the next run, I cast the Renegade and an eager cutthroat rose and slurped it in.  I quickly brought that gem to hand and admired briefly its beauty.  I slowly worked my way up through the creek and caught numerous fish in every run and hole.  In tight areas that I usually pass by with my tenkara rod, I successfully fished with the bamboo rod using the bow and arrow cast.  The fish came easily to hand that afternoon.  

Slowing down my pace also made me reflect on Rutledge’s wise words. I acknowledged then that the bamboo rod from a friend, the cool, clear creak, the plentitude of wild daisies lining its banks, the gorgeous cutthroat with crimson gills and hunter orange slashes, were some of life’s extras that brought a big smile to my face.  

If that were not enough, the abundance of daisies made me think of the chorus to a song by a favorite band, Switchfoot, entitled “Daisy”: 

Let it go

Daisy, let it go

Open up your fists

This fallen world

Doesn’t hold your interest

It doesn’t hold your soul

Daisy, let it go     

Those words complimented the whole experience at the moment so succinctly that I was moved to tears by the sum of it all.  I would describe the moment as spiritual.  It was as if the voice of God sent me a little message.  Like Rutledge, I could not help but conclude that these joyous life’s extras were not a coincidence.  Rather, they are a testament to a loving Creator who knows me intimately, loves me, and wants me to be happy.  I drove home that night feeling immensely grateful.   

In honor of this sacred experience, this stretch of Trickle Creek will from now on be called “Daisy Lane.”