Thinking back
My father was raised in the depression oldest of ten kids, he came up hard working in a welding shop for long hours even as a kid. Dad started his first shop when he was 18 and was really a good business man honest hard working and prosperous He was a good man solid stern and all business .
When I was 14 I wanted a boat so being the welder he was we acquired two 1940 car hoods butted them together and welded them it made a pretty neat little canoe, soldered up a pickup gas tank for floatation and a seat. I had my boat.
I was proud as punch caught a lot of fish out of that ole boat and had a lot of good times . One night my dad and I got to talking about fried frog legs and how long it had been since we had gone frog gigging
We loaded the boat and headed for a ranch he had bought . We started hitting the stock tanks, it was a good night frogs everywhere. We were swapping up one would paddle till the other gigged a frog drop it into the towsack and then the other would gig.The gig was abought 10 ft long,a snap gig with a wooden handle, and a flashlight to spot them.
After a while the handle on the gig broke so we started paddling up close to them grabbing them in the hump on there back. Catching them left and right as we eased up next to a willow a big ole cotton mouth feel of into the water and swam off Made us a little goosey but we keep at it Dad had a undershirt on I guess they call them muscle shirts now, and it was a hot night in Texas, saw a couple of big frogs on the bank and dad was up as I eased forward holding the light and paddling very quietly closer Just as dad reached for the frog.
Now you have to understand my dad wasn’t scared of anything not jumpy or ticklish just rock solid A tough umbrey as they say here in Texas.
Well that ole frog decided he had enough and jumped Pop was leaning over just fixing to grab him well that ole t shirt was hanging open and that big ole frog went right down my dads shirt course it was tucked in.
You could see that ole frog kicking and jumping in that shirt and the my dad did a strange thing right there in the middle of my hood boat he went to doing the Texas two step after a while the three step and four step
I’ll be dang if I didn’t think he was going to stomp the bottom out of my boat. I tried to hold it till I was about to bust open You didn’t laugh at this big tough feller well I lost it I was rolling around in the boat laughing so hard I couldn’t breath. Dad finally got his shirt tail out and that ole frog hit the water, as things started settling down I wasn’t to sure if I was in trouble for laughing but lord it was funny.
Dad gave me that stern look then I saw a little grin start and he started laughing It must have been a sight this tough man and a scrawny boy in the middle of the night with tears rolling laughing so hard we couldn’t talk
After we got where we could breath Dad looked at me and said you know I knew that frog couldn’t hurt me
But them claws scratching my belly and that cold clamy body up against my belly I just couldn’t stay still.
Well dad is gone now and I sure do miss him as I got older I realized he wasn’t near as tough as I thought just tended to business and took care of his family first. He really was a good man, not many like that left
Tempered by hard times and hard work soft enough to bend but hard enough to stay sharp.
I never will forget that night , and I am sad and have a smile on my face as I write this. I was a lucky kid a boat and a man like that to lead the way.
Ron
My father was raised in the depression oldest of ten kids, he came up hard working in a welding shop for long hours even as a kid. Dad started his first shop when he was 18 and was really a good business man honest hard working and prosperous He was a good man solid stern and all business .
When I was 14 I wanted a boat so being the welder he was we acquired two 1940 car hoods butted them together and welded them it made a pretty neat little canoe, soldered up a pickup gas tank for floatation and a seat. I had my boat.
I was proud as punch caught a lot of fish out of that ole boat and had a lot of good times . One night my dad and I got to talking about fried frog legs and how long it had been since we had gone frog gigging
We loaded the boat and headed for a ranch he had bought . We started hitting the stock tanks, it was a good night frogs everywhere. We were swapping up one would paddle till the other gigged a frog drop it into the towsack and then the other would gig.The gig was abought 10 ft long,a snap gig with a wooden handle, and a flashlight to spot them.
After a while the handle on the gig broke so we started paddling up close to them grabbing them in the hump on there back. Catching them left and right as we eased up next to a willow a big ole cotton mouth feel of into the water and swam off Made us a little goosey but we keep at it Dad had a undershirt on I guess they call them muscle shirts now, and it was a hot night in Texas, saw a couple of big frogs on the bank and dad was up as I eased forward holding the light and paddling very quietly closer Just as dad reached for the frog.
Now you have to understand my dad wasn’t scared of anything not jumpy or ticklish just rock solid A tough umbrey as they say here in Texas.
Well that ole frog decided he had enough and jumped Pop was leaning over just fixing to grab him well that ole t shirt was hanging open and that big ole frog went right down my dads shirt course it was tucked in.
You could see that ole frog kicking and jumping in that shirt and the my dad did a strange thing right there in the middle of my hood boat he went to doing the Texas two step after a while the three step and four step
I’ll be dang if I didn’t think he was going to stomp the bottom out of my boat. I tried to hold it till I was about to bust open You didn’t laugh at this big tough feller well I lost it I was rolling around in the boat laughing so hard I couldn’t breath. Dad finally got his shirt tail out and that ole frog hit the water, as things started settling down I wasn’t to sure if I was in trouble for laughing but lord it was funny.
Dad gave me that stern look then I saw a little grin start and he started laughing It must have been a sight this tough man and a scrawny boy in the middle of the night with tears rolling laughing so hard we couldn’t talk
After we got where we could breath Dad looked at me and said you know I knew that frog couldn’t hurt me
But them claws scratching my belly and that cold clamy body up against my belly I just couldn’t stay still.
Well dad is gone now and I sure do miss him as I got older I realized he wasn’t near as tough as I thought just tended to business and took care of his family first. He really was a good man, not many like that left
Tempered by hard times and hard work soft enough to bend but hard enough to stay sharp.
I never will forget that night , and I am sad and have a smile on my face as I write this. I was a lucky kid a boat and a man like that to lead the way.
Ron