I have an elderly (76yr old) neighbor who lost his wife last year. This couple used to go to Reelfoot and fish every year in the spring for a couple months at a time.
I got this bright idea yesterday to go ask him if he wanted to go fish for some catfish or bream with me on a private pond I have access to locally. He wasn't interested. In fact he told me the fartherest he had been from home in the last five years was the five miles to church and back.
I know he stays home most of the time, but I am concerned for him as he is awfully pale now. Yet he walks our twenty acre farm daily for excerise and works up his small garden religiously. He keeps his yard well groomed and that is about all he does, other than sit inside and watch tv.
I told him the place I was going had it's own little wooden deck out over the water to fish. The bream would come to the top of the water and beg to be caught. He still wasn't interested. His 52 year old daughter was there and told me that he loved bream to eat, but she hadn't been able to get him to go fishing either. She told her dad that if I brought him some bream she'd cook them up for him today with his favorite hush puppies.
So I set out to do just that. He was happy and excited to think I'd be able to catch some fish for him. I hadn't done that for years, but used to give him all the fish we caught that we didn't want in years past.
I ravaged the yard and garden for earth worms and couldn't find but one that wiggled out to volunteer to hang on a hook for me. I was disappointed deeply. Knowing that the bream in this lil lake loved those suckers, I made a run by wally world and picked up a tub of NIGHTCRAWLERS. I know there are less worms in one of those tubs than in the panfish worm tubs, but they are bigger, easier to put on a hook and I can bait two hooks with one worm broken in half! Three dollars and fifty cents worth.
I had my big fifteen gallon 'lidded' bucket, just for my catch, in the back of the jeep. Also my catfish rod and my light weight johnson rod and reel. I had packed my tacklebox with supplies from the hubby's and son's boxes and felt I had just the right stuff to snag a few fish for my neighbor to eat.
Once at the small lake, I carried my folding chair, rods, bucket laden with other supplies and tackle box down to the dock through waist high grass. It was nice stepping onto the walkout and the gusty winds only reminded me that I'd have to toss my floaters in the proper direction in order to keep them where I wanted them to stay.
I got all set up and tossed out my catfish line so heavy laden with a big squirmy juicy night crawler that it was quick to sink to the bottom of the water. I tighten the line just a bit and rested the rod on the railing. Next I threaded a second worm onto the lighter hook for bream and once the hook was well covered I pinched off the remaining worm and tossed it back into the tub for later use. I pulled out a neon green foam floater and placed it about three feet up the line and cast far from the dock. I sit down in the chair and just soaked in the beauty of the day.
The sky was heavy with moist clouds and it appeared it would burst out raining any time. The wind was gusty and made constant ripples that waved my floaters to and fro. Across the water on the opposite bank were some tall wildflowers with snow white blooms that waved to me in the wind. The air smelled of wild rose and locust tree blooms. Everything was a crisp fresh green from the recent rains and it was a wonderful day just to be outside. I know my daddy always had the excuse that it was too windy on days like this to fish, but I just couldn't resist, I had to be out there if only to watch the deer cross the far side of the bank and hear the birds singing.
After a few minutes of nature absorbing, I got down to some serious fishing. I reeled the bream line in closer to the dock. Immediately I see small bream rising out of the deep water to the clearer surface water and attack the neon floater.
It was fun watching one after the other lunge after the floater. It seemed they were playing volleyball with it. At times it was hit so hard by an aggressive bream that it actually cleared the water. Then all of a sudden the floater popped under the surface. After a second ontop of the water, it left sight and trailed off to the right. I gave the rod a quick jerk, setting the hook and the 'fight' was on. I reeled in a very unwilling good frying size bream. He was dark in color so I knew he was one of the stocked hybrid bream.
The next two hours, I caught so many bream that I actually tired of baiting and casting. I checked the catfish rod several times and only once had the bait been sneaked away by some unknown culprit. I tossed about twenty five, too small to fry, bream back. Sure some were of eating size, but I knew there were plenty of bigger fish in the lake so I opted for only the largest that I hooked.
After I had what I considered a good meal for my neighbor and I had gotten disgusted with the wormy black dirt under my fingernails, I loaded up and headed home.
My mind revisiting the afternoon in nature, I missed the neighbor's driveway by two houses. Instead of turning around, I begin to back up the jeep. As I approached his driveway, I cut the wheels to back into his drive and BBBBBBBBBBBAM!
What an awful noise. Those of you that have crashed your vehicle into something metal know that sickening sound.
Well! Helloooo! I said out loud. Putting the jeep in drive like an idiot, I pulled forward a few feet and again...BA<M,SMASH..CruNCHHh! I looked out my side window and I had run into the dang street sign there in the corner of his yard. Keep in mind this is at the corner of a blacktop and gravel road, so the sign is fairly close to the gravel. I then turned my steering wheel and started to back up into his drive and the godawful sound of something dragging stopped me!
I got out, and there was the fiberglass right rear panel of my jeep on the blacktop drive. Well...!*&&^ !!! I went back and just glanced at the damage and it wasn't bad, even the street sign didn't lean any more than it had orginially. So I got the bucket of fish out of the back and carried them up the drive to my neighbor.
The look on his face was almost worth my trouble. I said "ALMOST"! I told him I had backed into the sign and knocked the panel off the jeep, not to worry though as I had picked it up, and just popped it back on. After placing his eleven nice bream into his own pan he had to step around the corner of his house and take a peek. You couldn't see any damage from that distance so he thanked me and headed back inside.
I returned to my jeep, noting the deep scratches in the panel and a bit of green paint with some scratches just behind the taillight. Three houses down, I turned into our second drive which leads right to hubby's shop. I knew he'd be sitting out there pondering what he could do next. I had a job for him, one I wasn't happy about.
He came to investigate the damage and of course he found more wrong than what I had seen in my hurried glance. (Being a prior bodywork man) The sign post would have done some bad metal damage to the corner panel if not for the rear door handle. It took the pressure and had some bad scratches on it, but held the post off the metal, thank God. I told him as we were more closely examining the damage, that I was so thankful the tail light wasn't broken. He said, "AH, but it is busted." My heart fell. I know taillights are expensive as we have done body work on vehicles in the past and taillight are one expenive item to replace on a vehicle. He pointed out to me that the side ridge on the double light, an over and under unit fixture, was busted and the red lenses cracked on the side and rear. It wasn't busted so bad that I couldn't drive it for some time to come, as only a small sliver had been completed removed. I don't think it would have even allowed rain to collect inside.
I tear up thinking of the cost and how I had been accident free for so many years I couldn't remember. I asked him what our deductable was on this type accident and with a reply of five hundred dollars, I immediately went into the house, sickened to my stomach.
An hour or so later, after I had calmed down, I went back out there to see hubby buffing on the jeep. He had gotten all of the green paint off of the white, no damage to the paint job, and had the majority of the scratches buffed out of the fiberglass panel. I was amazed.
Even more so, when he told me that he had ordered a replacement taillight at the cost of just sixty five dollars!
At this point, I just had to tell my hubby how wonderful he was and how lucky I was to have the best dang man on the planet as my spouse. His only concern was that I had not been hurt and he even had me laughing in no time about how I seem do just fine traveling forward, but when I start backing up, things just better get out of my way! This is the fourth time in my life and the fourth consective accident I've had that involved backing up in the last twenty five years!
So guys and gals, it was indeed an expensive mess of bream for the neighbor, but for this husband and wife it was a time to reflect on all the things we've come through together and still we love one another!
My jeep will have a few minor scars. But we will still have four hundred dollars in our pockets and tomorrow we are installing one of those gadgets that BEEP BEEP BEEP when the jeep is put in reverse!
I got this bright idea yesterday to go ask him if he wanted to go fish for some catfish or bream with me on a private pond I have access to locally. He wasn't interested. In fact he told me the fartherest he had been from home in the last five years was the five miles to church and back.
I know he stays home most of the time, but I am concerned for him as he is awfully pale now. Yet he walks our twenty acre farm daily for excerise and works up his small garden religiously. He keeps his yard well groomed and that is about all he does, other than sit inside and watch tv.
I told him the place I was going had it's own little wooden deck out over the water to fish. The bream would come to the top of the water and beg to be caught. He still wasn't interested. His 52 year old daughter was there and told me that he loved bream to eat, but she hadn't been able to get him to go fishing either. She told her dad that if I brought him some bream she'd cook them up for him today with his favorite hush puppies.
So I set out to do just that. He was happy and excited to think I'd be able to catch some fish for him. I hadn't done that for years, but used to give him all the fish we caught that we didn't want in years past.
I ravaged the yard and garden for earth worms and couldn't find but one that wiggled out to volunteer to hang on a hook for me. I was disappointed deeply. Knowing that the bream in this lil lake loved those suckers, I made a run by wally world and picked up a tub of NIGHTCRAWLERS. I know there are less worms in one of those tubs than in the panfish worm tubs, but they are bigger, easier to put on a hook and I can bait two hooks with one worm broken in half! Three dollars and fifty cents worth.
I had my big fifteen gallon 'lidded' bucket, just for my catch, in the back of the jeep. Also my catfish rod and my light weight johnson rod and reel. I had packed my tacklebox with supplies from the hubby's and son's boxes and felt I had just the right stuff to snag a few fish for my neighbor to eat.
Once at the small lake, I carried my folding chair, rods, bucket laden with other supplies and tackle box down to the dock through waist high grass. It was nice stepping onto the walkout and the gusty winds only reminded me that I'd have to toss my floaters in the proper direction in order to keep them where I wanted them to stay.
I got all set up and tossed out my catfish line so heavy laden with a big squirmy juicy night crawler that it was quick to sink to the bottom of the water. I tighten the line just a bit and rested the rod on the railing. Next I threaded a second worm onto the lighter hook for bream and once the hook was well covered I pinched off the remaining worm and tossed it back into the tub for later use. I pulled out a neon green foam floater and placed it about three feet up the line and cast far from the dock. I sit down in the chair and just soaked in the beauty of the day.
The sky was heavy with moist clouds and it appeared it would burst out raining any time. The wind was gusty and made constant ripples that waved my floaters to and fro. Across the water on the opposite bank were some tall wildflowers with snow white blooms that waved to me in the wind. The air smelled of wild rose and locust tree blooms. Everything was a crisp fresh green from the recent rains and it was a wonderful day just to be outside. I know my daddy always had the excuse that it was too windy on days like this to fish, but I just couldn't resist, I had to be out there if only to watch the deer cross the far side of the bank and hear the birds singing.
After a few minutes of nature absorbing, I got down to some serious fishing. I reeled the bream line in closer to the dock. Immediately I see small bream rising out of the deep water to the clearer surface water and attack the neon floater.
It was fun watching one after the other lunge after the floater. It seemed they were playing volleyball with it. At times it was hit so hard by an aggressive bream that it actually cleared the water. Then all of a sudden the floater popped under the surface. After a second ontop of the water, it left sight and trailed off to the right. I gave the rod a quick jerk, setting the hook and the 'fight' was on. I reeled in a very unwilling good frying size bream. He was dark in color so I knew he was one of the stocked hybrid bream.
The next two hours, I caught so many bream that I actually tired of baiting and casting. I checked the catfish rod several times and only once had the bait been sneaked away by some unknown culprit. I tossed about twenty five, too small to fry, bream back. Sure some were of eating size, but I knew there were plenty of bigger fish in the lake so I opted for only the largest that I hooked.
After I had what I considered a good meal for my neighbor and I had gotten disgusted with the wormy black dirt under my fingernails, I loaded up and headed home.
My mind revisiting the afternoon in nature, I missed the neighbor's driveway by two houses. Instead of turning around, I begin to back up the jeep. As I approached his driveway, I cut the wheels to back into his drive and BBBBBBBBBBBAM!
What an awful noise. Those of you that have crashed your vehicle into something metal know that sickening sound.
Well! Helloooo! I said out loud. Putting the jeep in drive like an idiot, I pulled forward a few feet and again...BA<M,SMASH..CruNCHHh! I looked out my side window and I had run into the dang street sign there in the corner of his yard. Keep in mind this is at the corner of a blacktop and gravel road, so the sign is fairly close to the gravel. I then turned my steering wheel and started to back up into his drive and the godawful sound of something dragging stopped me!
I got out, and there was the fiberglass right rear panel of my jeep on the blacktop drive. Well...!*&&^ !!! I went back and just glanced at the damage and it wasn't bad, even the street sign didn't lean any more than it had orginially. So I got the bucket of fish out of the back and carried them up the drive to my neighbor.
The look on his face was almost worth my trouble. I said "ALMOST"! I told him I had backed into the sign and knocked the panel off the jeep, not to worry though as I had picked it up, and just popped it back on. After placing his eleven nice bream into his own pan he had to step around the corner of his house and take a peek. You couldn't see any damage from that distance so he thanked me and headed back inside.
I returned to my jeep, noting the deep scratches in the panel and a bit of green paint with some scratches just behind the taillight. Three houses down, I turned into our second drive which leads right to hubby's shop. I knew he'd be sitting out there pondering what he could do next. I had a job for him, one I wasn't happy about.
He came to investigate the damage and of course he found more wrong than what I had seen in my hurried glance. (Being a prior bodywork man) The sign post would have done some bad metal damage to the corner panel if not for the rear door handle. It took the pressure and had some bad scratches on it, but held the post off the metal, thank God. I told him as we were more closely examining the damage, that I was so thankful the tail light wasn't broken. He said, "AH, but it is busted." My heart fell. I know taillights are expensive as we have done body work on vehicles in the past and taillight are one expenive item to replace on a vehicle. He pointed out to me that the side ridge on the double light, an over and under unit fixture, was busted and the red lenses cracked on the side and rear. It wasn't busted so bad that I couldn't drive it for some time to come, as only a small sliver had been completed removed. I don't think it would have even allowed rain to collect inside.
I tear up thinking of the cost and how I had been accident free for so many years I couldn't remember. I asked him what our deductable was on this type accident and with a reply of five hundred dollars, I immediately went into the house, sickened to my stomach.
An hour or so later, after I had calmed down, I went back out there to see hubby buffing on the jeep. He had gotten all of the green paint off of the white, no damage to the paint job, and had the majority of the scratches buffed out of the fiberglass panel. I was amazed.
Even more so, when he told me that he had ordered a replacement taillight at the cost of just sixty five dollars!
At this point, I just had to tell my hubby how wonderful he was and how lucky I was to have the best dang man on the planet as my spouse. His only concern was that I had not been hurt and he even had me laughing in no time about how I seem do just fine traveling forward, but when I start backing up, things just better get out of my way! This is the fourth time in my life and the fourth consective accident I've had that involved backing up in the last twenty five years!
So guys and gals, it was indeed an expensive mess of bream for the neighbor, but for this husband and wife it was a time to reflect on all the things we've come through together and still we love one another!
My jeep will have a few minor scars. But we will still have four hundred dollars in our pockets and tomorrow we are installing one of those gadgets that BEEP BEEP BEEP when the jeep is put in reverse!
