Dec 13, 2023
By definition, the realization that you’ve experienced a close brush with death can’t come until after you’ve survived, but sometimes you might realize you’re already standing on thin ice, left to wonder how you’re going to stay alive.
We hope these moments in life are few, if at all, but when they do occur, reliving them with the safety and clarity of hindsight can teach us lessons about ourselves that we may otherwise never know.
In his piece “Melting
Away — Ice Fishing on LSD While Your World Dissolves,” a story
published as part of Good Beer Hunting’s Olly Olly series in
collaboration with Oskar Blues, writer and photographer Mark LaFaro
describes his venture onto a frozen lake in Minnesota and what
brought him there in the first place—the end of a partnership for
him and the dawning of a new era for his friend Finney, who
recently became a new parent. Beginnings and ends like these can
feel similarly rudderless and isolating, something Mark and Finney
found out during what ended up being a more treacherous outing than
they originally anticipated. In this conversation with Mark, he
told me he’d do it all again, maybe with a bit less LSD and
definitely with some more safety precautions.
He also talks about how despite the fact that fishing is closely
tied to drinking, how the two alcohol-free friends managed to still
open their horizons and hearts to one another during a terrifying,
but somewhat necessary catharsis for them both. The two friends
danced on the edge of life and came back to tell the tale, and
we’re fortunate to hear all about it.