Spiders Big Catch
When I was in college, Spider McGee, Charlie Fox, and I loved to fish off the log boom in the river near my house on summer afternoons. We'd sit and talk about life, drink hot chocolate, and occasionally catch a fish or two. But one day, Spider yelled, "Hey, I got something, and it feels big!" Catching any fish-of any size-was always a surprise, but hooking something big was reason for genuine excitement. As Spider began to reel, his pole bent almost in half. "This thing is a monster," he said, the drag on his reel screaming. After twenty minutes or so, he'd gotten it close enough to the boom to get a glimpse of his catch. It was a snapping turtle. "Ah, man, that's too bad," said Charlie. "I thought maybe you had Old Granddad there, for a second. Cut the line and let him go." "Are you crazy?" said Spider. "That lure was given to my dad by his grandfather. It was hand-carved in Norway-and he doesn't even know I borrowed it! I gotta get it back." "Well, how're you gonna do that?" I asked-and was soon sorry I had. "I'll just bring him up to the edge of the boom, and you guys reach out and grab it," Spider said calmly. Now, I'm dumb, but I'm not stupid. I said, "No, no, no-you bring him to the edge of the boom, and then I'll try to pry the lure loose with a stick." "OK, that'll work," said Spider. As Spider struggled to bring the turtle close to the edge of the boom, Charlie handed me a long stick. I reached out, and the turtle's jaws instantly clamped down on the stick. I lifted him out of the water, and we headed toward the bank. Once on shore, we set the angry turtle on the ground, but he refused to let go of the stick, the lure still dangling from the corner of his mouth. I reached out with my tennis shoe to nudge him in the back, and instantly learned several interesting things about snapping turtles. First, they're not as slow as you might think, second, they're very agile, and third, they're well-named. In a heartbeat, the turtle's neck shot out, reached completely behind him, and bit through the end of my sneaker. Then, spitting out rubber and nylon, he turned and looked at us menacingly. "OK, we need a new plan," said Spider. "And a new pair of shoes," I added, looking down at my big toe, which was now plainly visible through the hole in my shoe. "You hold his head down with the stick, and I'll reach out and grab the lure," Spider said. It was an insane plan, but it was still a step in the right direction, I thought. At least, there wouldn't be any parts of my anatomy at risk this time. I took the stick and pinned the turtle's head to the ground while Spider got down on his belly and crept slowly toward the angry, struggling turtle. It was then I learned even more lessons about snapping turtles. First, their front feet can be used a lot like a pair of hands, and second, snapping turtles are much stronger than you might think. The turtle reached up and quickly pushed the stick away and quickly raised his head-now leaving him face-to-face with a very surprised Spider McGee. The big guy screamed, which was probably the best thing to do at the time, since it caused the startled turtle to reach up with a front foot, pop the lure from its mouth, and then it whirl around and head back toward the river. While all that was going on, the lure leapt through the air and finally came to rest-firmly lodged in Spider's left ear. He danced around in pain, but we finally managed to pin him down and cut the line from the lure. Then we packed up and loaded him into the car. All the way home, Charlie and I would occasionally look back at poor Spider, sitting like a sad puppy in the back seat and wearing what looked like a giant hand-carved, bug-eyed earring. Then we'd look at each other-and laugh. All that happened more than 30 years ago, and although Spider didn't know it at the time, he was a trendsetter. He was the first guy I ever knew to wear an earring, even if he'd had to get his ear pierced by a snapping turtle to do it. I'm pretty sure they have easier ways of doing that nowadays. From the book Spider's Big Catch
Gary E. Anderson
www.abciowa.com © Gary E. Anderson. All rights reserved. About The Author Gary Anderson is a freelance writer, editor, ghostwriter, and manuscript analyst, living on a small Iowa farm. He's published more than 500 articles and four books. He's also ghosted a dozen books, edited more than 30 full-length manuscripts, produced seven newsletters, and has done more than 800 manuscript reviews for various publishers around the nation. If you need writing or editing help, visit Gary's website at www.abciowa.com. abciowa@alpinecom.net
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Why The Dems Can?t Stand Tom Delay & Tim LaHaye
THE MORAL OF THE STORY
Living in Darkness - Book Review
Award winning author John Roynesdal, is a retired English
teacher who has written for more than 15 years and
produced 3 books for his Phillip Michael Carnegie Mystery
series. Throughout the series, John focuses on issues that
prevail on mankind: greed, prejudice, poverty, dysfunctional
families and the conflict between traditional and modern
societies. Living in Darkness, a 265-page mystery novel, is
the third book in this series.
Story Structure - Three Heroes
Three Heroes Story Structure follows the Hero's Journey mould but distinguishes itself by making both the hero and the shape shifter both likeable and deserving of the final prize.
Be the Captain of Your Lifes Ship
In his book, "Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity," author David Whyte explores the concept of work from an internal perspective and how work allows us to become the individuals that we are. He refers to the works of the well-known poet and engraver, William Blake. Whyte uses the analogy of a ship crossing unknown seas to illustrate how we need to be the captains of our vessels. Through a variety of analogies, Wyte has presented work from a different perspective and one that allows us to explore our own potential and how we can better leverage that potential within that area of our life we call work.
Book Summary: Effective Networking For Personal Success
We are all "self-employed" now.
The New Art of War, Tactics, and Power
To rise and flourish in the world, you need to act according to how things really are, and you need to be a good strategist and manager. Most of the tactical information in the world lacks much practical value. However, over the years there have been a few texts written that are infamous for their no holds barred practical content. This includes classics such as Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, Baltasar Gracian's The Art of World Wisdom, and the works of Han Fei Tzu.
Book Summary: Good To Great
Explore what goes into a company's transformation from
mediocre to excellent. Based on hard evidence and volumes of
data, the book author (Jim Collins) and his team uncover
timeless principles on how the good-to-great companies like
Abbott, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark,
Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, and
Wells Fargo produced sustained great results and achieved
enduring greatness, evolving into companies that were indeed
'Built to Last'.
Druxel Manor - Book Review
"Druxel Manor is a stimulating thriller-mystery-romance
novel that keeps the reader guessing. Who do you trust?
Everyone seems to know a little something but no one is
willing to explain ? or rather, what is revealed only creates
more confusion.
Be the Leader - AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review
The author of Be the Leader: Make the Difference, a "manual for leaders," speaks not from theory and research alone. Paul B. Thornton is a consultant, trainer, and speaker specializing in the areas of management, leadership and team building. He has long assisted organizations in the selection and development of leaders at various levels. He has trained over 7,000 supervisors and managers to be more effective leaders.
Execution... I Mean The Book
Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan have created quite a stir in corporate circles with their book entitled "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done". The book outlines the behaviors and elements required for leaders to become successful in executing their plans.
Why They Launched Harry Potter At 12:01 Midnight
A missionary and his family were forced to camp
outside on a hill. They had money with them and
were fearful of an attack by roving thieves.
Book Review: Money Without Matrimony
MONEY WITHOUT MATRIMONY: The Unmarried Couples Guide to Financial Security, Sheryl Garrett and Debra Neiman, Dearborn Trade Publishing. Paperback $21.95 (248p) ISBN 1-4195-0688-9)
The Laid Daughter
There has been a lot of publicity lately centered on the issue of child molestation. Child molestation is a horrific form of child abuse that leaves its victims with a deep loss of self and the inability to cope with life's challenges.
Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life - AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review
Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life is another book focusing on the obvious. We've heard it all before. In fact, as stated on the inside flap of this very book, we've been hearing this message from this particular author for 30 years. My guess is we'll be hearing it from him for as long as he can speak. And speak he does. Brian Tracy is one of the top professional speakers in the world; he has given more than 2,000 presentations and addresses as many as 450,000 people each year. He's published 32 books and more than 300 audio and video learning programs. He continues to spread his message because he believes it; he has lived it successfully for decades, and has helped thousands of others learn how to set goals, expand their thinking, and reach their full potential.
Sound Bodies through Sound Therapy - Book Review
"Dorinne Davis has written many books that concentrate on
the subjects of hearing and sound. In the well-researched
textbook, Sound Bodies through Sound Therapy, she looks
at the concept of sound being a nutrient for our bodies.
Ideas Are Free - A Book Summary
Without great ideas, no organization can stay afloat, much less flourish. Managers and top executives are constantly struggling to come up with big ones ? creative marketing strategies, ingenious cost-cutting schemes and other corporate solutions that will save time and money and improve productivity. But what few of them realize is that right under their noses is a virtually limitless source of valuable ideas ? ideas that can revolutionize their company and help bring substantial and sustainable competitive advantage. These great ideas come, surprisingly, from the lowest point of the corporate food chain ? from the frontline employees who do the "dirty" work and who therefore see a lot of problems and opportunities that their managers do not.
Book Excerpt: Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam -- 5
May-Day!
The Demon Plague - Book Review
"The Demon Plague by Joreid McFate is a fantastic
paranormal suspense science-fiction novel, involving
time-travel and mysticism. This 424 page book is also
available in e-book format.
Giving Feedback or Writing Reviews of Bad Stuff
Some book reviewers say that when they don't like a book, they simply don't review it. I'd love to take the easy way out, but when I think about it from a reader's perspective? I want to know when a book sucks. I recently had to give low ratings to a book. I posted it on Amazon and no where else. More people find the book on Amazon than on my site or other places where I post reviews.
What Really Works - AchieveMax® Top Ten Book Review
If you watch television, read the newspaper and/or magazines, frequent the Internet, or simply move in any kind of a business circle, you must have, at one time or another, pondered the following:
|
