50 NEBRASKAland • MARCH 2018
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EBRASKAland Magazine publishes, on average, more than 640 pages of content per year. From
hunting, fishing, nighttime photography, conservation, visiting small towns and even nature
journaling, we hope to hook you into an outdoor activity of some sort.
The responses we receive from these efforts are quiet, yet we're a-OK with that.
But, I have to be honest, it is refreshing to come across someone who is in the outdoors because
of something you've written. I can remember the time I went to small, quiet Verdon Lake State Recreation
Area in southeastern Nebraska after I had reported about it, and it wasn't so quiet anymore. It was the first
time I thought my words mattered to someone.
Then, just last March I was at Two Rivers State Recreation Area with my dad and another friend of
mine, Matt Marx, and we were trout fishing. As we fished, a man our group had never met – Dennis Ahl of
Fairbury – started casting with his own fly rod nearby.
Watching him cast and seeing that he was just starting out, my dad went up to him to offer a couple of
suggestions. A little while later, Dad came back and said that Dennis had come to Two Rivers that day
because he had read a story of mine in NEBRASKAland saying how much fun trout fishing on the fly at Two
Rivers could be. So he decided to try it out for himself.
As we left later that day, Dennis was still casting for trout. He didn't look over his
shoulder as we walked away – just gave a simple wave goodbye before turning his
attention back to the water.
And I, once again, found myself totally a-OK with that silence.
Jeff Kurrus
Feb. 1, 2018
A-OK with Silence
