Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Cicada Time ... yuck!

Sounds of summer arrived in spring with the pulsating cacophony of cicada hordes. Red eyed winged 2 inch long insects with no useful purpose other than to breed and die. Arriving in late April their deafening den overpowers all other sounds right into June. Apparently there are two cycles .... a 7 year and a 14 year. They should be a feast for the birds ..... as of this moment, that has not been witnessed.

Maybe fish would enjoy this treat. Alas, this is on the side of a mountain not a river bank. Now that would be a vision as one might topple into the water from an overhanging limb. From below, a 4 pound Bass would spy the ripples, then the red eyes and think YUM as it charges the surface breaking the stillness in a gigantic leap. The rising greenish silver sides and tail flail sending sprays of water back and forth in every direction as the bucket of a mouth inhales the "bug" and the contortions cease sliding back into the water. What if that had been on the end of your 4 pound Spyder Wire line. That could have been a world class tussle ..... head shaking, digging for deep water, a stump or overhanging rock. Makes your fingers tingle just the thought of the bowed ultra light rod, line straining through the guides, giving and taking back, keeping the head up ...... holy cow, this could take awhile. Then from the comotion there would be multiple Bass moving in for dinner..... WOW! [Just a little flight of imagination, wishful thinking or past experience remembered].

Funny, briefly the mind was filled with the sound of gills rattling, water splashing and blood pounding in the ears; rather than the racket outside. Maybe it's time to repair the trailer tires and head to the river. Oh, right, we were talking about the obnoxious CICADAS. Perhaps I perpare for the quiet little Mayflies ...... put new line on the fly rod. Yep, that's a good idea!!!!! Want to go fishing????

Monday, May 30, 2011

Noble Inhertance and Superman's Reward

Entering into the barn, the sweet scent of straw and hay, plus the sound of crunched grain pervaded her senses. The drumming clatter of rain on the metal roof made this the most perfect place. As she strode down the hallway passing each door, the nickers grew more insistent. Those magnificent bobbing heads emerged to greet and receive the honey dipped slices of expected apples they hadn't tasted for months. It was a long time since Spring Break.

She had trained them for Dressage and Stadium Jumping, the monster black Friesian [Noble Inheritance] and the sleek liver chestnut crossed bred Welsh Cob/Thoroughbred [Superman's Reward]. Dad had taught her from the age of 3 or 4 everything she knew about horses. The memory of his leaving was dim .... a Chief aboard the Franklin in the Pacific Theater WWII .... the picture above the two stalls was his burning ship.

The rain had stopped; the hall filled with "Noble Inheritance" and "Superman's Reward". Brushed, loved, saddled, three heads turned at the sound of the baritone voice. "Did you think you would ride both at the same time?" Her laughter caused both "Noble and "Re" to nicker tossing their mane and heads. She had spent hours working out their names. As they were descended from Medieval War Horses, synonyms of the legacy of heroes seemed appropriate. "No, Dad [her biggest hero] ..... thought you might go with us; afterall, it is Memorial Day."

Saturday, May 14, 2011

It Really Happened

To Saturday Centus .... April 27th a day of serious tornadoes assailed the Chattanooga, TN area beginning at 8 a.m. and finally ending by 9 p.m. Unlike so many loosing , literally, everything; lost power [thank goodness for generators] and comcast [phone, internet, tv]. Power was restored by Sunday and comcast took 2 weeks to get us back on line. I must say, having participated here only a few weeks, this challenge I missed most. So, hello ..... again and my 100 word offering of It Really Happened.

The air hung in riverlets against the skin as The Spindrift, a 22' Mako open sport fisherman, drifted in the flat, windless gulf stream. "Arrrr me maties" didn't stir a soul; after hours of trolling the broken weed lines, the only recourse was to head home. Changing the heading, she breezed through the deep blue. Only days before, the storm had brought the seas to 6' and 8" swells. Frigate birds wheeled and dropped. The ride had been a roller coaster into the feeding fish.

The first outrigger bowed and the pin snapped. "Fish on!!" Then almost at the same time the second outrigger bent relentlessly. "Fish ..... really, BIG FISH on!!!!" Oh my word .... Bulls ... 2 huge bull Dolphins ... 55 to 60 lbs each .... a boat load of schoolies [5 to 8 lbs] is one thing but BULLS. They can hurt you once in the boat .... and we have two!!!!

We had been sing/humming Gilligan's Island and the Brady Bunch; suddenly we broke into " Hush little baby don't you cry .................... " as we hurled ourselves onto the thrashing fish. The watch, we later found on the forward deck.