This is a web edition of GBH Daily, a weekday newsletter bringing you local stories you can trust so you can stay informed without feeling overwhelmed.
☀️Sunny, with highs in the 80s. Sunset is at 8:12 p.m.
“It builds character.” That was my dad’s justification for putting my older brother and me in waist-high wading gaiters and teaching us how to fly-fish at a young age. I was around 8 years old, and my brother was 10 — young enough to recoil at the clusters of angry mosquito bites that would bloom down our arms and up our backs shortly after stepping out of the water, but old enough to be familiar with the family motto that fly fishing was not just a sport but “a way of life.”
Our fishing expeditions would begin with the long drive “upta camp” in Maine, near the Canadian border. They were powered by black coffee and little boxes of dry Lucky Charms, which my dad sliced open with his pocket knife to create a makeshift bowl so we could eat the contents on the way to the pond without a spoon.
What happened out there on the pond is between me, my brother and my dad, but those early morning lessons — the rhythm, the patience, the quiet togetherness — have stuck with me. That’s why I read with great interest Craig LeMoult’s story about a father who lost his son, and is now sharing his love of fly fishing with people in addiction recovery. It’s a gutting, beautiful read (and listen) that reminded me of a passage from my dad’s favorite book, which also explores the intersection of fly fishing and life: “A River Runs Through It,” by Norman Maclean:
“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.”
I’ll leave you with that. Now, let’s get to the news.
—Ellen London, managing editor, GBH News
Four Things to Know
1. The Red Sox tied their team record for longest winning streak yesterday, beating the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 in the first game of a double header. It was their 15th straight win, something the team hasn’t accomplished since the Ted Williams era in 1946.
“It’s just you keep stacking one win over another and then you get close and then the games, once you get within three or four, they start to feel like playoff games, ‘cause you want to get there, which is also a great experience,” third baseman Caleb Durbin said. The record will stand for now: Orioles won the second game of the day 5-1, Boston’s first loss since July 1.
2. Officials with the state’s Department of Public Health are saying to keep yourself and your pets away from algae blooms along the Charles River, especially between Kendrick Street in Needham and Spring Street in West Roxbury. They suspect that a dog who recently died of liver failure may have been exposed to something harmful at Millenium Park in West Roxbury. Officials are testing the water for cyanobacteria cells and cyanotoxins and expect to have results — and issue more specific recommendations — later today.
Cyanobacteria tend to thrive in hot, dry weather, said Julie Wood, climate resilience director of the Charles River Watershed Authority. “If you do have a dog that likes to lap up the water, I would probably plan to bring your own water and keep them away from the [river] water,” she said. “When it comes to recreation or making decisions to go out on the water yourself, eyeball the water, take a look. Does it look unnaturally green? And then also check state resources to find out whether there is a bloom in place.”
3. The Red Line is still closed from Park Street to Alewife, with shuttle buses slowly driving along the route as crews work on tracks, signals and noise-dampening. MBTA officials asked passengers to allow an extra 70 minutes — yes, that’s an hour and 10 minutes — until service resumes July 31.
Kaitlyn Ford, who works at Massachusetts General Hospital, was waiting for a shuttle bus on crutches. “Nothing I can really do,” she said. “I’m not going to Uber, so I’ll wait for the shuttle and it gets here when it gets here, and I get to work when I get there.”
4. An organization called The American City Coalition is hosting free events on Boston’s waterfront, hoping to make sailing, kayaking and being on the shore feel more accessible and welcoming to everyone, and particularly residents of Roxbury and Dorchester.
“It feels like some of our young people are excited to be out there with their siblings and families,” said Willie Bodrick, II, president and CEO of the American City Coalition. “And it’s a beautiful thing because it brings out all different folks from all walks of life in our neighborhood and we are excited to be able to see that this is another opportunity for folks to convene, to create community, but also just to relax and have a good time.”
He lost his son. Now he’s teaching fly fishing to help others suffering from addiction.
Adam’s Parachute is the name of a fly — a lure used in fly-fishing. It’s a fluffy bundle attached to a fishing hook and designed to look just like a real insect. It’s also what Jim Faust called the nonprofit he founded to remember his son, Adam.
“When he got into recovery — and he had two years and two months in recovery — he devoted his life to helping other people who were seeking recovery,” Faust told GBH’s Craig LeMoult. About two years ago, Adam saved a man who had overdosed. The next day he died of an overdose himself.
“So Adam passed,” Faust told LeMoult. “And he’s still with me. He’s with us right here, I can promise you. But then came, how do we move forward? Do we move forward?”
His answer was bringing people out to rivers and teaching them how to fly fish. It’s a place where Faust has found some peace, he said. And so has Jared Freeman.
“I never was comfortable in my own skin, so when I was alone by myself, my mind would just race and I’d use substances to deal with reality and my own thoughts,” Freeman told LeMoult. “With fly fishing, it forces me to be okay with my own thoughts. And I come out in nature and I absorb the tranquility and the peacefulness of what’s around me, and it helps me to acknowledge and calm myself about where I am in life right now.”
You can see and hear more about Faust here.
Dig deeper:
-'Not dead but ... not OK.’ As fentanyl kills fewer people, survivors need help
-Teen substance use detox center in Worcester is closing
-In a booze-heavy Boston summer, what do sobriety experts advise?
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