Early Morning Ponderings

  Any fisherman worth his salt knows that to catch fish, you really should get out on the water before dawn.  This holds true especially if the tide is changing just about that time.  Those fish will be ready to feed and the fisherman should be in place and ready to make the haul. Mark and I went to the pier in the wee hours of the morn so he could head out in the small skiff.  Mark has proven that this boat is all that is needed to "bring home the bacon".  While a larger, fancier boat would be nice for visiting relatives, the old skiff works just fine for us. Granted it is small but it is also easy maintenance and Mark always manages to find the fish!  

  Once again this morning, I stayed behind on the pier.  Our sweet niece, Eva, was coming to the Little Bayou House a bit later and I wanted to make sure that I did not miss her.  As Mark eased the boat out from the pier, I was enthralled by his silhouette against the red sky. It reminded me a lot of Pop and his early morning fishing trips.  Pop and Mark were big fishing buddies and spent many an hour on the Bay. More oft than not, they would bring buckets full of fine fish home for our dining pleasure.  There were many times back in the day when we depended on those catches.  Early in our marriage, Mark's work was seasonal so fresh caught seafood and veggies from the garden fed us...and fed us well.  We still laugh about our menu during one particularly hard year.  He would come home after putting in a hard day's work and I would make the following announcement!  "We are having corn, peas, shrimp and okra!"  To which he would respond with an "Oh, yum!"  With the same scenario each day, I would merely change the order of the items. "We are having shrimp, peas, corn and okra!"  Every day saw a different order of the same four foods.  We did not complain as we were so thankful to have our bellies full.  Things have changed a lot during those early days but we are still just as thankful.  The blessings are many.  Now we have four chest-type freezers filled with seafood, vegetables and fruits.  There are hundreds of jars of jams, jellies, fruits and veggies lining the shelves. These stockpiled foodstuffs will feed not only us but any visitors to the Little Bayou House throughout the winter to come.  We are thankful.