Anecdotes

Two of my team members and I shared stories that were our own personal experiences that we can laugh about now. 

My story revolved around the time I spent with my Uncle Lloyd at his homestead outside Jackson, Wyoming. It had been too hot to do anymore work in his log cabin and Uncle Lloyd suggested we go fishing at the Snake River. The actual headwaters aren’t far from his homestead, about sixty miles north. 

Anyway I spotted a spot that looked promising. There was this pool that looked deep and would certainly be a  possible boon for some trout to cool his fins in. I had no problem inching down to the ledge along a cliff face that was ten to fifteen feet up from the river’s surface. 

The pool was promising but not rewarding. I don’t know if it was the time of day, or if those fish just weren’t interested in worms dug up from the ground because I got zero bites. My uncle and aunt were equally skunked as they called down to me that they were ready to go. 

So I’m standing on that ledge and shrugged with resignation that the fish won this time, packed my gear and went back along the cliff face as I had done earlier. To this day, I still don’t know how I lost my footing and down I fell off the cliff and into that pool of cool water. Both the rod and tackle box was clutched with an iron grip by both my hands and using my legs pushed my body back to the cliff and proceeded back up that side until I got to the top and looked foolish, or at least I felt that way. 

“What happened to you?” Uncle Lloyd asked, though I’m certain by that foolish grin of his, he knew exactly what happened. After I explained to him, he burst out into laughter. 

My friend, fellow team member said, “Well, the same thing nearly happened to me.” 

“I was fishing along this lake bank, and I get hold of this big old Walleye. I grasped my pole with both hands and held on for dear life. I didn’t realized how slippery that bank was and fell forward into the lake. I did everything I could to keep that fish and bring it to shore. He was the heck of a fighter he was.  

“After I finally got him and put that fish in my cooler this guy comes along and says to me, ‘I wish I had a camera.” That was the funniest thing I ever seen. It would have been worth an entry on America’s Funniest Videos.’ 

After work my other team member told me about his dog but then switched to his cat. “We had this cat, black and with a white stripe along his head between his ears.” 

“Peppy Le Pew?” I asked. 

“Wait, it gets better,” he told me. “I could set my clock by this crazy cat. He would scratch at the door, go through the house, scratch at the back door and we have to go and let him out. 

“Every night he would do this. It wouldn’t matter, we would hear that cat scratching at the door and either me or my wife would get out of bed, stumble down to the hallway and let that cat in through the front door, then out the back door. He had our number to say the least. 

“Anyway, one evening, I’m hearing scratching at the door. I opened the door and let him in, and follow him out the back, open the back door and let him out. When I got back inside the living room, my son and daughter’s eyes were as big as saucers.  

“I asked them what was wrong?” 

‘Dad, you just let a skunk into the house.’ 

“Now could you imagine the possible disaster that would have wrought?” He asked as I laughed at this story.