KEVIN TATE: Mountain wisdom fitting for many of life’s woes  By
Kevin Tate/Outdoors Writer  We’d finished a cold day trout
fishing in the North Mill River outside Asheville, N.C., thrown
our gear into the back of the truck and made ready to head to
town when Steven, my fishing partner and guide for the day,
offered his last bit of advice. Reaching for my cast-off wader
boots, he tied the laces together. “Always keep them tied
together when you’re hauling them,” he said. “That way, you’ll
never lose one. Or, if you do, you’ll lose them both and it’ll
be less aggravating.” I couldn’t argue with logic like that.
What I’d learned that day went well beyond tips and techniques
for catching rainbows and browns, although there’d been plenty
of those. It was more about life and liberty, about the pursuit
of happiness in particular. In the course of our day in the
hills, Steven told me about his past jobs, about a series of
academic studies and professions that put him in close contact
with people of every economic str