cornpone all around

"if he had had his way; nobody who did not know how to catch a fish, would be allowed to disgrace a fish by catching it." so goes one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite stories. it was brought to mind this weekend:

we went down to hempstead to visit charlotte's father. he is contending with hodgkin's disease and leukemia. the chemotherapy treatments he is currently enduring have made obvious changes to him. he's tired. he's bald. he sleeps alot more and has much less energy when he is awake. hopefully, following this last treatment, he will regain much of his former vitality.

one thing that hasn't diminished is his love for racing. he owns a super-stock race car which he designed and built. he maintains the engine and makes weekly adjustments to the car to find the proper combination needed to bring home the trophy. we went out to baytown to watch them race. for 8 bucks per person, one can sit on aluminum seating while destroying hearing capacity and being witness to all manner of redneck activity. we got into the act long enough to eat frito pie and funnel cakes. good enough.

since we didn't get to charles' house until after 1:00, we all slept until 8:30 or so. after a very late breakfast of sausage, eggs, and biscuits, we started to process of getting ready to go fishing. after getting all of the gear, filling a hills brothers can, and waiting until after the first few laps of the weekly nascar offering; we were finally ready to get in the truck. charles has a few stock tanks on his property, and the fish are always biting. in order to be clear, let me inform you that we NEVER fish unless we are at charles' house. i don't really know how, or care to spend my time this way.

regardless of my ignorance and apathy, i ended up catching the largest of the 2 dozen fish caught that day. i understand it was a 3 1/2 lb. bass. o.k., if you say so. we ended up moving almost all of them from this more established tank, to the newest tank that was built a couple of years ago. the two largest bass were relieved of their status as living creatures; and, ushered into the position of lunch item. it was really good. even jackson ate a few bites, and he doesn't like fish unless it is made of chicken.

all in all it was a great weekend.