McNamara #10

Zeke followed the ragged man, who called himself Jeff, for two days. They camped where a creek with no name joined the White River the first night. Zeke, not trusting the man tied him to a tree. Judy Carol thought that was being "particully ornery" seein as how the fella was leading them to the General. Zeke wonder why she had decided to come along instead of waiting for her pa to get back and he asked her about it.
"Pa may take a notion to go to Fort Smith for all I know, he may not come back til fall and maybe not even then." was her response.
Jeff did not have much to say, especially after being tied to tree all night.
"You'd no call to tie me up Deputy, warn't me that took them shots at you, why I ain't had me a rifle gun since Shiloh and what lead and ball I got I made myself. Too dern hard to come by for wastin"
"Well I got me some sleep, you may have lost some. Besides you said we would meet up with this General today. You can go take a nap once we get there."
They had followed the river or at least kept it in sight, it was the only way Jeff said he could find his way. It was almost evening when Zeke smelled smoke and with in a few minutes they were overlooking a camp located where the Kings river joined the White. It was layed out like an army camp, with pickets standing guard at 25 foot intervals. Zeke could see what looked like rifles stacked near each cluster of tents. There were several small fires burning with men moving around preforming cook chores. In the center was a larger tent with a Confederate Battle Flag and another flag standing on either side of the open flaps.
Judy Caroll suddenly disappeared from Zekes side and Jeff rode down a game trail and entered the camp with Zeke behind him. They rode up to the flagged tent and Jeff dismounted.
"I'm back General, I brung hm like you said"
"Well done Jeff, your dismissed came a voice from inside the tent. Jeff lead his mount off turning and giving Zeke a dirty look as he left.
Zeke keep his eye on the tent. The rattling of a saber as it was belted on and the snap of a holster cover did not go unnoticed.
A rather tall man wearing the broad brimmed hat of a Confederate officer came into view, his face covered by the brim. His uniform carried the insigna of a General, however the tailoring was more or less added to a worn suit coat. His pants were gray, with a dirty yellow stripe down the sides. The saber was more like a sword with a thin blade sheathed in a round copper tube, His boots were black and polished to a high sheen. He exited the tent and raised his head, a full beard came into view along with a set of ice blue eyes. Zeke stood a few minutes staring into those eyes. Nothing was said until the General smiled and showed a set of almost perfect white teeth.
"get down Zeke, its been awhile"
"Virgil Taylor, you are dead." came Zekes reply.
"Naw, I ain't dead, why you should know that no Yankee Red Leg could kill me....they killed my horse though and that was a good horse."

July 13, 2011

On July 3rd, 2011 at about ten minutes to eleven in the morning, heaven opened its doors and my lovely daughter Trisha walked in. She had suffered for 19 months with cancer. We knew from the very beginning that her survival was a long shot. Our hope and prayers, our tears and strength were tested. Tricia stayed strong, determined and maintained her dignity through the whole process. If only we as a family could have been as strong as her. We miss her, we think of her every day and we find ourselves with tears at every picture or mention of something she loved to do. Tricia we miss you and please save us a seat.

Funerals are for the living. We use the time at a wake to gather, renew old contacts, talk of things we thought we had forgotten and get to see relatives we have not seen in years. Tricia planned hers well, it was short painless for the most part and beautiful. She decided that she would be cremated. Her ashes were present in a brass urn. Simple yet elegant. It was a time of healing and learning to cope with her passing. It helped me get through the worst event to date in my life.

Now, with all of the tears in my eyes making it hard for me to see the keyboard. Its time to tell it like it is. The last person in this world that would want anyone crying over her was Trisha. She was full of life and a little stubborn. She had a sense of humor that really touched us all. The morning of the wake and memorial service, the electricity went out just as most of the women were getting out the shower with wet heads. Every house were my daughters and grandaughters could have gone to dry their heads was without the magic of electricity. It was not off long, just annoying. Come to find out that the reason there were 53000 homes in the dark was a snake. The only animal that Brian would aggravate her with as they were raising their family. Brian once caught a copperhead, killed it and then coiled it into a strike poise and put it in the freezer. When Trish opened the freezer door...well let us say Brian never pulled that one again. After the service The urn was placed in a cabinet once owned by her Grandmother Mary. Her son was curious about it so he picked it up, This is really heavy" he announced. His sister said "how do we know mom is in there?" With that he gave it a little shake

Tara pumped her fist and said " Shes there" Brandon said that it really felt weird and he put it down. I sat and watched the incident and thought about how Trish was smiling and her children. I really hate cancer. I really love Patricia Lynn Evensen.

June 30 2011

Its a really funny year weather wise. We had lots of rain, filled Tablerock Lake to capacity and then some, now its dry. The lake is still full. Fishing has been poor to not good at all until recently. Judy and I went hunting gills a week or so ago and by chance pulled up to a tree that had just gotten clear of the water. Its a place where when the lake is at a more normal level we have caught some nice bluegill. After a few minutes we began catching fish. Now there is ten more feet of water around that tree than normal. I just did not think they would be there. Yet they were.

I took a good friend of mine, Bob, out with me this week. Bob grew up around the lake at his grandparents and fished with his grandpa. He moved away, grew up got married had kids and quit fishing. I'm getting him back into it. I created a little monster. Bob and I work together, so the next morning he comes to work and immediately starts in on me for not baiting his hook or taking the fish off the line. I started laughing and went right along saying he did not pay me for the guide service so he was on his own. We had a really great evening and caught a livewell full of fish. That next morning his concern was that I had not cleaned his fish, furthermore when was I going to have him and family over for supper so that he could eat his fish. I like Bob.

Judy and I are experiencing our daughters sickness. Each day is a new feeling and brings with it a whole new set of issues. What we are going through does not compare with what Trish is going through we know. It is just the pain and the feeling of helplessness that we cannot seem to get a grip on. I will say that at times like this it is family and the presence of good friends that help make the pain a little less. Each of us deal with the situation a little differently. We each have our moments. Together we seem to draw strength off each other. It is hard to hear folks ask about her and its really hard when you hear yourself saying that its not good, or its just a matter of time or anyone of a number of ways to say that which I can not yet write down. I really hate cancer.

So, to those of you that read this, thank you for support. Please understand when we answer you with tears and a smile. Its a hard thing to lose anyone, especially a child. Please don't stop your prayers and thoughts. We think it is what is getting us through.

I think we'll go fishing......

Thanks.

From the Journal of Deputy Zeke McNamara #9

Bacon was sizzling in the pan partially covering the splashing and hollering of the girl as she bathed in the cold river water. The James is mostly spring fed and the water seldom gets warm enough for bathing. Zeke smiled as he listen to her fussing over being told to bathe. Once the bacon was done using the grease Zeke sliced the last of the tators that he had brought along. He seasoned them with some wild onions and mixed up a batch of pan bread. he was finishing just as she walked up to the cave entrance.

"This here soap got a mite of a bite to it, how come?" she complained.

"Got a little sand mixed in with it to help get down to the pink in the skin. Scrubs real good, I use it on everything I want clean."

"Well it shore got me raw in a few places."

"Good for ya"" How long your Pa been gone?"

"He been gone now close to eight maybe nine days. He said I was to wait for him at the cave and he would come along by and by."

"Your Pa leave you alone like that often?"

"Just for going after his coffee and other things. He's fond of his salt and sugar."

"You stay around here then?"

"We do most of the summer, Pa,he's sure he knows about where them diamonds are He talked to a breed before the war who told him that old Man Yokum had him a bag of diamonds he got from the injuns. he says that breed knew cause his grandpa was one of the injuns what traded them."

"Whats kept him from just getting them and heading out to California?"

"Pa says landmarks changes, trees grow up or die, storms and floods take em out. He says as soon as he finds the mark he'll know where to look." Ma got tired of it and we settled down on a rock down towards Berryville, it were there that the moccison got her whilst she was washing in the crick. That there is one of the reasons I ain't to pleased to get me a crick bath."

"Cleaness is close to godlyness so said my ma, especially on Saturday night" answered Zeke. "You seen a bunch of Johnny Reb's camped near here?"

"They was, left mostly a week ago, day or two after Pa went to fetch supplies." The went up the White river towards Shell Knob. They made a mess around here for a spell, digging and a tearing things up looking for gold or maybe for them diamonds. Pa tried to be neighborly, exceptin them Reb's was right standoffish." They run Pa off that first day we run into them, Pa he said they was runaway solgers and that we should stay good and clear of what they was doing. He said that they was a looking in the wrong spot anyways."

Zeke finished the last of the food then picked up the plates and fry pan. He walked toward the river. The girl Judy Carol had confirmed what he knew to be correct. If there was a band of soldiers in the area they were moving west. He would have to ride up the river to follow them. Riding up that way would leave him exposed to the bushwhacker that had tried twice to shoot him. He squatted down and was swirling the plates in the river when Judy Carol spoke from the cover of the willows.

"There be a fella up on the lip of the cave, he been watching you, he ain't got no rifle gun he's just keeping you in sight." When you turn around look there at the base of that lightning struck pine to the left. He watching you from there. Look for a patch of blue like a gobblers neck,he's wearing a blue scarf around his neck."

Zeke stood up and as he turned he spotted the blue. He stretched a little and walked back to the cave. When he was out of sight of the man above he ran to the side and followed a path worn slow by rain water till he was on top the cave. He moved so fast as no to give the man watching time to react. Zeke grabbed him anf hit him with a back hand blow that rocked the man back on his heels. Before he could recover Zeke slammed him again and then placed his cocked revolver into the mans nose.

"Who are you? What you want and why you sneaking around here?"

Zeke shook the man till his teeth rattled and his eyes glazed over. Zeke drug him off the hill and across the gravel bar to the river. He took the man by the collar and stuck his face into the ice cold water.

"Talk varmint or I'll drown for the stinking back shooter you are!"

"Urrugh" the man coughed up a pint of river water and as his eyes focused he was able to say

"The General wants to talk to you....says I'm to make sure you come see him..."

Friday June 24, 2011

Well here I am again trying to fine the time to make entries. I've lost so many of my readers that it may take a while to get things rolling again. Recently I've come to the conclusion that no matter how hard you try life gets in the way and fate can throw you curves you best hit hard and pop them up to a higher authority. In February Judy and I learned via the US mail that our land lord on Bayfront had quit paying the mortgage and that we had less than 30 days to vacate. Landlord said he was going to call and fill us in he just never got around to it. We also got the word that our daughter's cancer had returned. The treatments were intense and they made her sick, Judy had to spend a lot of time in St. Louis helping. So finding a new place was left up to me......a challenge I jumped at....yeah right. I found a place, close to the one we had and with a great view of the lake. It had been vacant for several months and needed a good cleaning. Judy was out of town so I took my trusty shop vac and headed to the new digs. The first place I started was the gas fireplace. It was a mess to say the least, full of trash, soot and and just about everything else one could imagine. With the confidence of a Supreme Court judge I attacked the task. Let me stop here for a minute, shop vacs are really great tools, however, and we all know there are however's involved, the lid has to be very secure or all the dirt, dust, and in this case soot enters the atmosphere and an alarming rate. Yep....I could have set the place on fire and had less damage. I had to mop the floors.....over and again....soot does not like water so it turns to some chemical combination that has the adhesion of super glue and will not be allowed to be mopped up. One can get on their hands and knees, use paper towels, towels, microfiber, steel wool, and every other thing known to modern man with little or no results. I'm still wiping up black. Then there was the walls.....yes soot sticks to walls as well and if you use water on it it turns from a fine dust to a smeary black goo. Same thing applies... you can wipe to the drywall and it still stays put. Judy came back from a trip, said a few things that were not suitable for my ego and self esteem, told me to deal with it and then laughed till tears fell. I was proud that I could give her a little relief. We moved on time in spite of the largest snowfall in recent memory in southwest Missouri. I would have never made it for not the willingness of my son Brad, and the assistance of my friends, Doug-Wayne, Jim and Bob. Judy did not have much to move. I'm proud to report that we didn't break anything, just lost a few things. Like Judy's Paula Dean toaster and egg cooker.....never used that egg cooker. Any way, we thought I lost some of her necklases to include her pearl one. Found those last week in a drawer in a dresser we seldom get into...now I wonder who put them there....

Like I said that fate thing rose again couple of weeks ago, We learned that our landlady, Renee, was just informed that she had a large tumor in her pancreas and liver, she was told it was cancer, it was bad, and there was not much that could be done. I really hate cancer.......

My daughter is home, hospice is making her comfortable as possible and between Judy and my other daughter along with an aunt they are helping and being there when hospice is not. I ask for your prayers for Trish's comfort and strength for those that are there.

I will try to be a little more dedicated to this blog, I refuse to join facebook I don't know how to twitter and talking on the phone is so yesterday. If I want to discuss something with the grandkids I have to text, autocorrect is not my friend. So until next time thanks for reading.

Mike

Sunday February 6

Just below this entry is the # 8 installment of Deputy Zeke McNamara. I hope you enjoy.

Things have been hopping here on Schooner Creek. The lake level is at 905 + a little. The USACE continues to drop the lake an average of about .15 of a foot every day. There is no ice on the lake where I am however I' told there is at Cape Fair and down to almost Point 10. (Aunce Creek)
Getting onto my dock at this point requires a repelling harness. I have no fishing reports to pass on. We suffered through a major ice/snow event last week and it seems that the "experts" are predicting another 10-14 inches of the white S%&...snow for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Judy and I are going to have to move, it seems that the current landlord and his mortgage company have not been getting together once a month for the payment. So the mortgage company has sent notice that the landlord is being foreclosed on. Imagine that.....
We are relocating to a nice house about 3 miles for our current one, with a nice view of the lake. I will post some pictures. Moving day is the last Saturday of the month if your interested..........You say you have an appointment to watch paint dry on that day....oh well I understand I'd come help you except Judy would not be happy with me and we all know that when the wife is unhappy no one is happy.

until next time......

McNamara #8

The thunder rolled as lightning continued to flash across the sky. The rain seemed to be letting up. Zeke watched the cave entrance fully expecting the girl to return. Finally he rolled into his blankets and let the sound of the rain put him to sleep.

There was a faint light in the eastern sky when Zeke rolled out of his blanket. The sun was coming up in a clear sky, the storm long gone. The morning air was fresh. Zeke walked down to the river which had come up during the night and was dirty brown. One look made him think twice about using it for his coffee. He dipped some and then sat it aside to settle. He washed his face then using his fingers he combed is hair. he turned to walk back the the cave and reached down to pick up the pot. The buzz of the bullet came just before the crack of the gun. Had he not reached down to pick up the pot he would have been shot. Zeke dived for cover and saw movement towards the cliff top above the cave. He crawled to the base of the cliff where he was out of sight from above and worked his way back the cave. He took his rifle then began a slow flanking motion by duck walking along the base of the cliff until he reached a game trail that would take him to the top. Twenty minutes later found him standing were the dry gulcher had taken his shot. There was little there except the scuff marks on the rock. That was the second time he had been shot at and it was beginning to make him mad. Somebody did not what him nosing around.
"It wore a man wearing Yankee blue pants and a butternut coat with one of them little brimmed caps the solgers wear" said the girl Jude from a blackberry patch. " He didn't wait around to see ifn he hit you, he took his shot and skedaddled down the trail. He had him a horse tied down yonder a ways."
"You were here?" questioned Zeke
"I have me a place under a log to keep dry, I was a fixin to get up when I heard him a coming, I just laid here and watched. Didn't realize it was you he was sightin in, could have been a deer or somethin."
"Yeah, or somethin"
Zeke turned and began walking down the trail. He found where a horse has stood. By the looks of the bark he had been there long enough to get bored. He found fresh droppings. He checked the tracks. the left hind shoe had a cross bar in it. It left a defined track, the horse hair was sorrel in color with some white. The horse had scratched himself leaving hairs in the bark. He walked back to the top where Jude was sitting, as he walked past he said "come on, I got a bar of soap and then we can eat."

January 2011

Wow, it has been a while since anything was posted to this ole blog. Excuses are often weak attempts to justify laziness. In my case that is partically true. I have experience computer issues comparable to Mount St Helens and the San Francisco earthquake and fire. However, if I was more patient and less prone to blow things off I would have continued to blog.

I owe several entries in the adventures of Zeke McNamara, fishing stories and how too. I will try to do better and we we all know the road to.........is paved with good intentions.

Lots of things are going on here on Schooner Creek. Today were are suffering through one of the worst snow storms in Missouri history. According to the news we have not seen this kind of "Blizzard" conditions since 1912. Now how they know that is beyond me. In 1912, weather people relied on things like looking out a window, calling someone way west to see how thier weather was, watching animals and insects. My mom says that if you catch a flock of birds sitting on a witre or fence it means its going to rain or snow. I always figured they were just tired. Or if a catapillar has hair longer than 1/2 inch it means its going to be a bad winter. Or my favorite if you break open a persimmon seed and the center looks like a snow shovel you are in for a lot of snow. Todays weather folks have computers with applications that track a storm days in advance. They get all excited when they get to interupt your favorite show to tell you its raining 75 miles away. Not only that if it's a storm they are telling folks what to do... like "Abandon your Mobile Homes !" Seems like I've always found that if its a bad storm one of the first things that go is the electric and battery tv is just not popular.

Anyway, I am going to make an attempt to be better at this, look for the next chaper on Deputy Zeke in a day or two.

Live from Schooner Creek this is ole mikey reporting that its a snowin hard.

Its tomato time.....

For those that have read this any length of time they know that I like tomatoes, a lot. Since moving to Schooner Creek I have had a running battle with mother nature in growing them. Last year I tried to raise them upside down. The concept was great, they always work on TV. I can honestly say that I did not do so well. Watering was an issue, to much sun was an issue. And squireels were a major factor. My Judy warned me this year that if I put one tomato plant along the main walk, I would need to learn to sleep in the garage. Since I figure that I'm way to old to learn to rest on concrete I decided to builds raised beds for my palnts this year. Wish me luck, read down and see how I did it.

Tomato Time

Pick an area that gets lots of sun. Most gardens like the sun. Measure your placement area then cut your 2x6's accordingly. In my bed because I was using a full 8 foot board I cut a center support to help hold the 8 footers together.

tomato time

It's easy to figure out how much dirt you need, just measure the square footage of the raised bed, then remember that on each bag of dirt there is a scale that tells you how much each bag will cover. In my case, I needed 40 bags of dirt. They weighted 40 pounds each and I had to move them by hand 3 times. Do that math and it will tell you to not let your teenage son get away. To get square footage just multiply length of the bed by the width. If you are using inches remember to covert it back to feet. If that creates a mind warp, find a fifth grader and get your answers.

Tomato Time

The finished product looks something ike this, or exactly like this. I can only hope that the pursuit of the tomatoe is a lot more successful than last years run.

From the Journal of Zeke McNamara #7

Or a wet rat, it was a toss up. She crept into the cave and stopped just out of the drip from the opening.
"Well, can you talk" Zeke asked
She just stood there looking around as if she was making sure there was no one else in the cave, Zeke put away his revolver and stirred the fire. He pulled the coffee pot a little closer to the fire to let it warm a little. She just stood there, she was wearing an old wide brimmed beaver hat with a squared off crown. It had a piece of the brim tore off the front right where she could duck her head and by moving her eyes still see. Her hair was red, not the brassy kind, the almost brown kind and it looked like a bird had been living in it below the crown of the hat. She was a little over five feet tall, she wore a red flannel shirt with bib overalls and miners boots that were three sizes to big. She was dirty, her face was smudged with black and her fingernails were caked with dirt. She was carrying an old cap and ball rifle like Yankees used in the beginning of the war.
"You hungry?" Zeke asked. Again trying to get her to say something. She stood at the cave entrance, watching every move Zeke made. Her eyes darted over her shoulder and she seemed to buzz with energy. Just at the minute lightning flashed and thunder rolled overhead. She jumped inside the cave and immediately crouched and pointed the old rifle out into the darkness. Zeke chuckled and said " Might jumpy are you?" She turned on him, her face strained in anger. her first words were, " You stay out yonder in a nuff o'these storms your chances of getting hit by lightning gets greater and greater. You'd be jumpy to if'n you ever seen a body after lightning hits it. My pa had an old sway back mare that he left tied to a plow, lighting hit that ole mare and took every bit of the hair off'n her. She was as pink as a newborns bottom, dead too." Zeke laughed out loud and ask again if she was hungry. She looked off into the night and said " I can eat if'n you got extry."
Zeke put the fry pan back on the fire, cut off several pieces of bacon into the pan. He reached over and poured a cup of coffee and handed it to her. She put her old rifle down, leaving it close, and sipped on the coffee. She made a face and swallowed. Zeke smiled again and reached into his pack and tossed her a sack of sugar. She added a heaping hand full to the cup and sat back to drink it.
"You got a name?" Zeke asked?
" My daddy called me Jude most of the time, my momma called me Judy Carol till she died. Snake bit her down in Arkansas, Daddy said it was the biggest cottonmouth moccasin he'd ever kilt, Momma lived two, three days. She told me to watch out for snakes, that was the last thing she said to me."
"Good advise," Zeke commented.
The rain outside increased in volume and the entrance was now behind a thin wall of water, most of it ran off towards the river. One small rivulet came in towards where Judy Carol had sat down, she got up and moved toward Zeke. Lightning flash and thundered rolled then echoed. Each time Zeke noticed that Judy flinched when it flashed. Zeke handed her the fry pan and she took the bacon out. He reached back into his pack again to produce a sack of left over biscuits from breakfast. She placed the bacon in the biscuits . Zeke noticed that she ate with the style folks do that have not had much to eat in a while, slowly enjoying every bite. When she finished the bacon she sopped up the grease with a biscuit and ate that too. Zeke let her eat with out much conversation. When she was finished Zeke asked " You live around here?"
" I live where I want" she answered" got me a good gun and I know how to eat off the land. Momma taught me a lot about what plants you could eat and what ones you could use for medicine. I get by, Pa is gonna find them diamonds then we will move out to California and eat high off'n the hog"
"So your here treasure hunting?" Zeke inquired.
"Never thought of it as that, I reckon we are, Pa he took off last week to get more supplies, he favors his coffee."
"Where did he go?"
Said he was going to Galena, I figure he went down towards Blue-eye, cause the trader down there will take pelts for supplies, fella up in Galena he prefers cash or gold. We ain't got any of that."
Zeke thought back, there had been a stranger reported to have been seen around the trading post. About that time Zeke began to notice a foul smell filling the air. He looked around for its source. It did not take him long to figure out it was the young lady. As she dried out it was easy to tell it had been some time since she had had a bath. The odor was as nauseous as a skunk he sniffed and scrunched his nose. The motion was not lost on Judy Carol.
" Alright Mister, I know your sniffing me and I'm fixin to leave, been a while since I had me a creek bath with soap. Thanks for the meal, I'll be leaving. She got up and took her rifle and started toward the entrance. She took two steps and the lightning flashed and the thunder rolled. She ducked her head and stepped out into the rain.

Schooner Creek under the rainbow

The winter of 2009-2010 has been one of the coldest on record here in south west Missouri. The temperature hit -11 one morning in early January and other than a one day breather we had no January thaw. Its the end of March and the temperature is still having a hard time getting above 60. The James River arm of Tablerock froze over above the White River arm at point 9. Not so hard as you can walk on it, it did support snow and folks up that way said it had not happened since 1963 or 4.

I for one am very glad that by the end of this week the temp's are suppose to be in the low 70's. The grass is turning green and them bushes people put in their front yards are turning yellow. All we need now is to see the Red Buds pop and right behind them come the wild cherry and plum trees then the Bradford pears and the Dogwoods. Hot dog.....when the oak leaves get to the size of squirrels ears and the dogwoods bloom, the crappie are jumping in the boat.

The rainbow in the picture hits the dock where my boat is sitting. I took that as a good sign, The water there is too deep to dive for the gold so I hope the luck fills my live well for safe keeping.

I had a lot of folks ask me today about my blog novel, From the Journal of Deputy Issac McNamara. I'm working on that to be my Thursday entry. So thanks again for following. Keep in touch and let me know what you like and dislike.....

Off to a GREAT start

I'm passionate about my fishing, like some folks are mad about cars, golf, basketball, baseball and football. I love to go fishing. The way I look at it, I work hard 40 hours a week, pay my bills, stay out of trouble ( most of the time) and if I have a weakness ,it is fishing. Now Bass fishing is my favorite, the hours I spend just casting for the species more than pays for the price of the lures. When I catch one like the one on the right then all the money is worth it. When I'm out on the water my blood pressure drops, the idiots I have to deal with are forgotten, and everything is at peace in my world. I had a person explain to me one time that if I added the cost of the boat, license and all the tackle then every fish I catch is like $10.00 a pound. I got news for that person, I seen a new bass boat on a show room floor this past week and sticker price on it was over $41.000.00 That means that the fish I catch is like $200.00 a pound. Thank the good Lord I don't need a boat.
I walked through the lure department of my local Bass Pro Shop and readers, if I told you there were lures there that cost as much as $25.00 would you believe me? I remember when I thought spending a $1.50 on one was outrageous. Not only that but they have videos playing at the end of every isle telling you if you only buy this $25.00 piece of painted plastic you are going to catch these monster fish and be famous. I guess my age and experience saves me because much like a gambler can not help from dropping a quarter in a slot machine I have a hard time resisting the urge to grab up four or five of them high dollar lures just so I can try them in case they might catch a fish. Heavy emphasis in the word might.
I started fishing next to my dad on farm ponds and creeks near my grandparents homes in Texas County, Missouri. We used worms we dug up ourselves or grass hoppers we had to catch. We spent hours catching bluegill, small bass, and a red eyed fish called a goggle-eye. As I grew up, Dad took us to Minnesota for Pike and walleye, and later yet Lake of the Ozarks for Crappie fishing. Most of all we used natural baits we caught or trapped ourselves and caught a lot of fish.
Then when I was 18 a friend, named Don Kramer, made me into a monster. We were fishing a small creek called the Courtious (Coat-a-way) when he tied on a blue wooden bait with a couple of treble hooks hanging off it and cast it into a eddy. The thing floated there a few minutes, Don took up the slack, and the water exploded right before my eyes. A few minutes later Don lipped one of the biggest bass I had ever seen up to that point in my life. I was hooked, deep. Why if I could catch fish like that with out digging up worms, or crawling around in a chigger infested hay field catching grasshoppers, or waiting while a minnow trap does its job, then I was signing up. I did and several years later, and a whole lot of money spent, I'm still at it. I go just as often as I can and stay just as long as possible.
The first fish of the season was caught on a painted piece of plastic I paid a lot of money for....Ain't life good!

Did you think I Expired?

Folks and readers that may or may not be following me I have returned. Its been a long cold winter here on Schooner Creek. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since my last entry. Let it be said that things are almost back to normal. I can almost see out of my eye,my daughters health is good right now, my computers health needs to be worried over. I made the mistake of installing a Norton anti-virus program that slowed my computer down so much it lost a race with poured molasses.
The weather is improving here in southwest Missouri, it is finally warming up a little. Tablerock Lake, here at Schooner Creek, has a surface temperature at 47 degrees prior to the heavy rains we have received since Monday. The rain was warm and hopefully has had a positive impact. Three days of fishing produced one fish, to small to keep. My grandson Joe has not let me forget about it yet, prior to the rain. Joe and I made the 45 minute run down to Cricket Creek in search of Crappie. The water there was stained getting on to muddy. Temperature was 49-51 degrees and the crappie had lock jaw. My friend Doug and I have worked our favorite places around the Kimberling City area with nothing to report. We are going out again this afternoon to try again.
The Lake level dropped below 915 for the first time in almost a year. Due to the rains it is back up there again around 917. I was told that to find stained water now you have to get up the James River arm above point 10. Last week the White Bass was making themselves popular up above Cape Fair, and for what it is worth fisher folk on Bull Shoals at Forsyth were have a lot of fun catching them off the banks near Shadow Rock Park.
Crappie are still spotty, they are still a few warm days from getting really active. My guess the water is still to cold. The coming week has several days of 70's and nights in the 50's. That will bring up the temp pretty fast.
My thanks to everyone that takes the time to read my entries. I have missed being able to put my thoughts down. Hopefully I'm back at it again and who knows, writing this blog will do more for me than the health plan.

Back it up

I realize that with this entry, if anyone out there questioned my age, the question will be answered. I'm old enough to be very technically challenged. There was a time that I can remember that to make a phone call you first had to make sure no one else in the neighborhood was using it. If it was available you only had to dial 4 numbers. Then a few years later you had to dial seven, now everyone has become used to dialing ten, most of the time, eleven if its long distance from a land line.
Remember the days when if you were not home, and some one called, they had to call back, there were no answering machines or voice mails. Remember a thing called an address book, where you wrote down on paper using a pencil the address and phone numbers of friends, family, pharmacy and Doctor's. Some of them could be written in ink, pencil was safer if they moved around a lot. That little book stuffed with all of the papers, receipts and business cards was one of the most important books in the house! In my house there was a special place for it, and Lord help the culprit that did not put it back after it was used. Remember when you memorized all the important numbers you called so you would not have to look them up.
Today we carry our "address books" around with us, we do not have to memorize anything because it is all at the touch of a button on our cell phones. Heck half the time I have to stop and think about every call I make if I try to use my memory for the number.(especially if I call home) I have emails, phone numbers, important dates with automatic reminders, I can even search the Internet if I have to right from the palm of my hand using a cell phone. Wow, how great is that!
However, and there is always a however in life, what happens when the cell phone gets really hot in your hand, the display screen slips sideways and then goes dark? I'll tell you what happens your ability to communicate with the world goes up in electronic smoke and everything you had stored on this little battery operated nemesis is gone! All those numbers that you do not have to remember is poof! If your like some, even the silly passwords that you have to remember is kaput. In other words you have to start all over and try to remember everything you had in there including Aunt Molly's neighbors number so you can call her if Aunt Molly does not answer because she went on a cruise and did not tell anyone.
I know all of this because last week my phone, with out warning died. I buried it by putting it in a box and sending it back to whence it came with a prepaid mailing label. Now I have the task of replacing all that was in it. So far it has taken me two days and I may be one half done.
Now let me give some advise, most carriers have what is called secure backup services, which if you can subscribe that will automatically backup your devise so that should it fry to a plastic blob, your world does not have to be rebuilt. ALSO, and this is the most important part, you can get these little cards that plug into the side of your camera phone then they plug into another card that will plug into your computer so you can transfer all of those pictures you take of the fish you catch, sunsets, and grand kids. Of course most people may have already know this, I did not. I always wondered if there was a faster way of getting pictures out. I just did not want to ask. I did not want the person I asked to say, "Wow what a technically challenged" old man.

Black and Blue Friday

Hey folks we made it back, short trip to St. Louis and a great Thanksgiving meal at my daughters and back in a day and a half. My Judy had to be back so she could supervise the sale of televisions on Black Friday. I cannot wait to hear about her morning. I talked with several folks about shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving, they all say that the deals have to be great and the savings off the charts for them to get out of bed at o-dark thirty and fight the crowds to save ten dollars. However, there are millions that feel differently. Local law enforcement in southwest Missouri have made maps, synchronised traffic cameras and electric signals. They have even assigned officers to physically direct traffic. Wow, shoppers have no idea just how prepared retailers and local tax based governments are rolling out the red carpet. I am especially impressed with the efforts of Walmart. Since the incident in New York last year where in a man was trampled. They have consulted with crowd control experts and designed a means to accommodate the shoppers while maintaining some semblance of order. I really hope it works. I witnessed a mad dash for some sheets last year. One lady shopper was softly bumped while she was reaching into a bin full of sheets. By the time she surfaced the sheets were all gone and she didn't get any. My demented sense of humor caused several people to give me strange looks as I rapidly walked away. After all its not funny to get bumped into a bin full of sheets and not even get one set to keep.
Yes, last year I was asked to help my Judy and I did. Black Friday is one of those events everyone should partake of at least once. Even if you don't buy anything.

Thanksgiving.....

I went to the Doc yesterday. He peeked, examined made me look all around and decided that I was healing a whole lot faster than most. He released me to go to back to work this coming Sunday. I cannot wait. I think that I'm going to do "something" a lot over the next couple of days just so I can get used to it.

Congratulations to my Brother Kevin and a good friend Stan. They both harvested trophy size bucks in the recent Missouri deer seasons. My brother Alan and nephew Matt are included. they also put venison in the freezer this year. I was invited to go, its just when your sentenced to do nothing, even deer hunting is something.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Its a time we all get together to eat to much and visit with friends, family or just do something outside of the norm. We all celebrate thanks in our own way. If watching the parades, eating turkey and all the trimmings and visiting with family is your thing then or skiing off some mountain out west, just remember to give thanks.

Today my Judy and I are travelling to my daughters home outside St. Louis. We will part take of all the traditional festivities, eat lots of food and have to return home late tomorrow evening. My Judy has to work on Friday. She will have to roil out of bed around 2 am and drive to the store. Big doings at the store because its "Black Friday" and there are a ton of deals. My Judy has been placed in charge of television sales. she will supervise the chaos as shoppers push, shove, butt in line and generally be shoppers on black Friday. My Judy will handle customer concerns, and make sure no one gets out of hand. In my business I have to do that everyday, I told her, welcome to my world. She made a rude noise and gave me a dirty look.

I hope you are enjoying Deputy McNamara's adventure, I will add more to it this weekend. Wonder what will happen next.

From the Journal of Issac McNamara #6

Zeke rode slowly down the hanging valley. He reached the end just after mid day and found the small game path that served as access to the outside. Mule had followed right along all afternoon occasionally looking to his right up the hillside and twisting his ears to get a better listen to something moving up there. Zeke had caught movement several times just never enough to clearly see what it was moving up there. The critter had stayed right with them as they moved and was really good at keeping to cover. That was the main reason Zeke was sure that whatever the critter wasn't, it was sure to be the two legged kind. Zeke eased his mount down the trail leaning back in the saddle to make the downward progress as easy as possible. He reached the bottom, crossed a small creek running with clear water, then followed the game trail . The trail was slowly falling towards the river and Zeke kept his eyes pealed for signs of humans being around. Still he found no evidence of folks gathering wood or cutting dead branches from the standing trees. He came out of the woods just above where the James River joined the White. He turned and rode upstream a dozen yards to a place he could cross with out getting his feet wet. He was midway across the river when the rolling sound of thunder came to him. He looked up into the sky he could see and there were no clouds. That was the problem with these Ozark Mountains they wee just deep enough in the valleys and high enough in the peaks that a summer storm could blow down on a fella with out much warning. Zeke kicked the horse a little and stepped up the pace. He crossed the river and immediately seen where folks had camped and seen evidence of trees being used for temporary shelter. He rode up the gravel bar a short way and found the old log hut that used to be Yocum's trading post. It was long ago abandoned, the corral was still standing in places and the cabin had one end of the roof collapsed into itself. There was a stone chimney standing at the other end. The door hung from one hinge. There were small holes everywhere a body looked. Someone had spent a lot of time digging small holes looking for something, most likely old Yocum's sack of diamonds. Zeke heard the roll of thunder again. The storm was getting a lot closer, it was moving very fast. He dismounted, lead his horse to the front of the old cabin. He took his rifle from the scabbard and gently using the barrel pushed the door wide open. He heard stirrings from inside. He reach down at his foot, picked up a hand full of gravel and tossed it inside the door. A faint buzzing noise answered him. He banged on their door and the buzzing became louder. Rattlesnake, Zeke flinched as the crack of lightning and the accompanying roll of thunder swept over him. The air was filled with the smell of brimstone. Zeke had no desire to fight a rattler over the dryness of that old cabin. He walked to one end and looked behind it and there was the entrance to old Yocums cave. Horse had no liking for that cave until the flash of lightning made the hair on his rump stand up. He lunged past Zeke int the safety of the cave. Mule followed right along. Zeke stood just inside the cave looking at the river. He caught a movement across the river and the flash of red cloth just before the rain made it impossible to see any further than the end of his arm.
It was still raining when it got full dark. Zeke has loosen his saddle and had removed the pack saddle from mule. he had a hard time finding enough wood for a small fire for coffee. Whoever had used the cxamp last had burned everyting with in a short dash f the cave. Zeke had to roam out severl yards to find enough to make a fire. he pulled several branched from a black oak. The lower branches of a black oak will be dead, and they will stay relativel dry in the rain. Branches on the ground will get wet and will have to dry to burn. Zeke had made him a rest using his back pack and saddle. He was sitting behind the fire to the inside of the cave. he bever looed right into the fire. That was something his Pa had taught him and three years fighting in the war had let it become habit. He was sipping his coffe and watching the drips from the falling rain off the roof of the cave when he heard a branch snap outside the reach of the fire light. Horse and mule both had ears pointing out into the night. Zeke took cover behind the saddle. He pulled his revolver and held it easy in his hand. Horse flared his nostrils and mule took in a deep breath.
"Your making my stock nervous, step in to the fire light or go away, makes me no nevermind" said Zeke.
Into the fire light stepped a figure, and by the looks of it it was a girl.