More than one way....

  Back in the day, Pop would use some rather comical phrases when explaining something.  One that sticks out as quite odd is "There is more than one way to skin a cat."  I could never figure this one as Pop never skinned a cat in the first place so how in the world would he know more than one way.  Why not "More than one way to skin a hog....or deer....or steer....or rabbit...or squirrel...or even a frog"?  Those he skinned...we all did as part of work on the farm but skinning a cat...nope.  Never wanted to do that.  Cats were valuable workers on the farm and we could not afford to lose one.  So, I figure Pop must have heard this phrase as a kid and it stuck....just like me as the phrase pops out of my mouth as often as not.

  This afternoon, my friend came to the Bayou for a bit of "fishing therapy".  That is something that is good for what ails you.  (Another of Pop's favorite idioms.  He was good at throwing them out there when needed.)  My friend and I headed to the pier after doing some baking. After tossing out several lines, we sat back to have a bit of conversation.  It was not long before she got a nibble or what she refers to as a "tink".  "A tink", she explained to me, "is not a full bite but just an aggravating nibble."  She and the tinker played a game of cat and mouse for a while before she reared back and got the fellow.  "Aha!  I got you now, you little tinker mug!"  (So, now the fish graduated from being a tinker to being a tinker mug!)  Darlene played her fish well and brought up a stingray.  This is where that "more than one way" came into play.  She had not hooked her fish in the normal way via the mouth.  Somehow, she had snagged the fish in the pectoral fin that runs down along the edge of the fish.  The hook was nowhere near the mouth!  I guess there really is more than one way to skin a cat...catch a stingray!

  Once we unhooked the stingray, I noticed something poking out of its mouth.  Aww, poor thing!  That stingray had already been hooked before Darlene snagged it.  The fish had a hook embedded deep down in its gut from some previous fisherman.  There was no way that I could retrieve the hook without doing major damage to the fish so I just scooted him back into the water.  I sure hope the other fisherman had used the same kind of hooks that we use. We use hooks that rust to pieces in a matter of days so that if something like this happens, the fish does not suffer long.  Poor stingray!