Sometimes, my deadline to send in my weekly article sneaks up on me. Suddenly I can think of nothing to write about. So here you are.
Fishing
April is here. It won’t be long before Danny and I go fishing at the boat landing by the toll bridge. We choose a warm sunny morning, take our lawn chairs, prop up our poles, sit back, and visit. It’s a popular place to fish.
We see the same people year after year. In some cases, we don’t know each other’s names, but we are always happy to see each other after a long winter. It’s a friendly community. The game warden always shows up to check licenses. We get to ask him fish and game law questions. He enjoys it as much as Danny and I do.
Between Danny and I are 150 years of life experiences. Danny has done a lot in his day. I like hearing his stories. Right out of school he worked for a utilities company. Occasionally, as we drive around, he’ll point to a steep mountain, telling me he was on the job there setting utility poles in 1962.
Danny worked for St. Johnsbury Trucking in Bellows Falls 20 years. Later, he worked for St. Johnsbury Trucking as terminal manager in Plattsburg, N.Y. When St. Johnsbury went out of business, Preston Trucking of Bellows Falls hired Danny as terminal manager.
When he was in Florida, Danny took up with a hot air balloon company. He was crew chief, traveling around this country setting up for hot air balloon shows. Some of these hot air balloon shows were in Canada. Danny told me about one night flight.
He also told me about one flight that didn’t go as planned. “One time in Ottawa, Canada, the pilot of Magic Carpet had to set down in a four way intersection.
“The pilot said he could see the intersection ahead of him. The crew and I rushed to the intersection, and stopped all the traffic.
“The pilot asked how long it would be before the police would show up. I told him on the radio, ‘They are already here.’ All five of the crew were police officers on the Ottawa police force.”
Danny hunted a lot in Virginia and out west. We always have something to talk about.
Stuff
I collect all kinds of stuff. I collect old rod and gun club, political, and teamster pins. Whatever I find for a dollar or two, I pick up. Not long ago, I picked up the pin you see with this article. It made me smile. It reads, “I’M THE GUY THAT PUT DOTS ON THE DICE.”
I knew nothing about it. On the reverse, under the pin, is a paper label advertising Clix cigarettes. I looked online and learned these pins are known as, “I’m the guy,” pinbacks. It turns out a series of these pins was produced.
Another thing
I need a few old cigar boxes. They come in handy for storing small parts and pieces. Another thing I could use would be old spool cabinets. These are small cabinets with shallow drawers, quite often with tiny partitions. Again these come in real handy for someone like me. I love small cabinets with drawers. Let me know if you have any.
A short story
All winter long, I’ve spread table scraps, coffee grounds, eggshells – well you get the picture – anything organic, on my small vegetable garden. I have fun watching the critters paw this stuff over.
The other day I took a pail of chicken bones, stale bread, potato peelings, and other such tasties to the garden. I had rendered a chicken so I had bones and skin. I skimmed the fat off the pot I rendered the chicken in the next day. The fat I put in a container.
At the garden, I spread everything around. I like to watch the crows and ravens scratch the snow, looking for a morsel. They do an excellent job turning everything over. I had a bottle of rancid olive oil. I sprinkled this around on stale bread, and some just in the snow.
I see foxes left their footprints in the snow. They paw away looking for something the ravens missed. I see footprints from a bobcat that came in to supervise. Fox and cats can detect the slightest scent in the snow. They can smell the chicken fat. Birds lack this fine nose. The foxes and cats dig around, further working in my compost.
This week’s old saying: “Rat trap cheese will curl your toes.”