Influences

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As most young boys do, I watched my Dad closely and tried to do the things he did because he was my hero. Occasionally, this got me into trouble. Here’s the story

 

 

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Influences

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When I was six years old living on 3rd Street in Phillips, Texas, we had about six days one summer when it rained hard almost continuously. Between, Borger and Pampa, Texas, there were three small lakes adjacent to the highway that had flooded and there was about 2 feet of water over the highway. My Dad had heard at work that all of the catfish in the three lakes had moved over the pavement of the old road because the water was warmer there. This concentrated them and made them easy to catch. So, when Saturday morning came around, he packed up our fishing gear and he and I headed for the flooded highway about 5 miles west of Pampa. We parked on the highway at the edge of the water and baited our treble hooks with chicken liver and started fishing. We caught several nice sized bullhead catfish in a short time. My Dad hooked a really big one and he was bringing him in and the fish got off. He yelled out “Bullshit” in a loud and angry voice. I thought to myself that must be what you say when you get mad about something and I filed it in my memory banks. We caught a mess of bullhead catfish and then went home.

 

 

Seems like fishing from the highway may not be as rare as it sounds.

 

 

 

A mess of bullhead catfish ready to be peeled and filleted. When you pick up a bullhead, they make a squawking sound.

 

 

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The next day I was playing with my Yo Yo and the string kept getting tangled up so I yelled out “Bullshit” in a loud angry voice. My mother grabbed me by the collar and dragged me into to the bathroom and and washed my mouth out with a bar of yucky soap. When I was through gagging, she asked me where I heard that awful word. I told her I heard Daddy say it when we went fishing and he lost a big fish yesterday. She called him in the room and he denied saying the word in front of me, but I could tell he just didn’t want my Mom to know he did, so I let it go. Over the years when my Dad and I went on many outings together, I learned many additional words that I was pretty sure I shouldn’t repeat at least in front of my mother.

 

 

I think everyone remembers this scene from “The Christmas Story.” Believe me, it’s no fun.

 

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Thanks for reading Influences,
Bill