Fish Attack!

It has just not been the most healthiest of weeks for me. First, although the original infliction happened several weeks ago, the pain intensified in my knee where I strained a ligament. It seems that slinging mulch is not conducive to healing sore legs and now when I take a step, pain shoots through the leg. This has a tendency to make me hobble around like some old pirate with a pegleg. I was told "Stay off the leg for a few weeks."...which is the most ridiculous thing anyone could have ever told me. I am hardheaded and I also get very antsy when lolling about the place. So I do things that well, sort of irritate the knee and make things so much worse. For instance, today, I decided that I needed to bait the crab traps. My brother brought me a bucket of catfish to use as bait. These are the old "hard-head" saltwater catfish that are just about the most useless fish except for the fact that they make ideal crab bait! Son and I headed to the pier to pull up the traps and poke the fish in the bait box. This should have been a relatively easy task if it weren't for one incident. One of the catfish was too large for the box and needed to be cut in two. Again..simple, except while cutting it, the back fin of the catfish stabbed into my hand causing a nice puncture wound. Now anyone that has ever been gored by the dorsal fin of a catfish can tell you that this is not pleasant at all! Off I hurried to the house..no..off I hobbled to the house. I had never realized just how extremely long the pier actually is..and how extremely steep our hill is..until I limped all the way leaving a trail of blood behind me. I am quite sure that the once couple of hundred feet walk turned into at least a ten mile hike! The house seemed to be sitting on top of a steep mountain not a gently sloping hill! Hobble ..ouch ..hobble ..ouch! Thoughts of me bleeding to death rushed through my head! Oh my! Death by catfish! I struggled onward!

Once there, I washed the now swollen hand and wrapped a wash cloth around the wound. I hurried to the kitchen to mix up a nice soak of hot water, turmeric, epsom salts and oregano. Indeed, it sounded more like a recipe for pizza than a medicinal soak but I knew it would work. I plunged the puffy, bloody hand into the mixture and let it soak for about ten minutes. The warm water felt soothing and though the salts tingled a bit, I was sure it was helping. After the water cooled, I dried my now turmeric-yellowed hand and examined the gouge..it did not seem to be near as swollen and the bleeding had stopped. I decided perhaps I needed to take it a bit easier for the rest of the day! I hung around the house and made zucchini bread.

Tonight, again, I limped my way back to the pier. I just could not stay inside any longer. The water was calling me..I just knew that there was a redfish waiting to take my hook! There was plenty of bait around in the form of baby mullet and the water was slick calm..the perfect fishing evening! Suddenly, the line started being pulled! I had a fish! I pulled the fish to the pier and then realized it was a catfish. A CATFISH!..oh no...here we go again! Not to worry..this one did not get me! Into the crab trap it went! Checking the other traps, I found that I had five nice fat crabs! Perhaps by morning, I will have a dozen or so! It is all worth the effort..now for that long hobble back up the mountain...errr..hill! Tonight..no pain, swelling nor redness..just a small puncture wound. Granted, the hand has a peculiar yellow tinge to it from the turmeric but I feel it will heal nicely.