FISHIN ON THE ALCAN

SEAJAY AND Willa THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES
Since fishing is a big part of my life and its one of the reasons I wanted to go to Canada and Alaska, I made it a point to stop at camp grounds that advertised fishing in their lakes or ponds.
“Did that campground advertise fishing”?
“I think the sign said they had a private pond”.
“If it does, are you ready to stop for the night. I sure would like to do some fishing”.
It was getting over in the evening when we pulled in a “The Shade Tree” campground. I parked the van and went into the combination office, grocery store, drug store, filling station, post office and garage.
“You got any campsites”?
“ Got one left, fifteen bucks, Canadian”.
“The sign says you got a fish pond. Any fish in it”?
“Yep, I stocked it this past spring. Just release what you catch”.
I handed the guy fifteen dollars and registered. We pulled around back and discovered that the one remaining campsite was between the dumpster and the outhouse. It was wider than the van, but just a little. I eased the van back and went into a hole about two feet deep.
“I’ll level the van later. I want to go fishin’ while its still light outside”.
“You gonna set up the dish so I can watch Wheel of Fortune”?
“Willa, I don’t have time. I want to get to the fishing lake before it gets too late. The guy said that he had stocked it with trout and I ain’t done no fishin on this whole trip and here is a good spot because it’s a stocked pond”.
“What about the wheels in the hole? The van is so unlevel that I cant keep the pans on the stove to cook supper”.
“I’ll level the van when I get back. I’m goin fishin”.
Willa was not real happy about this but she didn’t say anything.
I grabbed a fishing rod from the back of the van and picked up a box of tackle and started following the sign that said “FISH POND”. It came as a surprise that the fish pond was in the middle of a large meadow with several cows inside a barb wire fence. I climbed over the fence and ripped the knee out of my jeans. I started walking across the meadow and the cows started following me. I guess they thought I was there to feed them. While watching the cows following me I stepped in to a nice fresh cow pie. My foot went up to the ankle and my sneaker immediately turned a dark shade of “cow poo”. Undaunted, I proceeded toward what I assumed was a pond. I arrived at the edge of the pond after fighting my way thru chest high weeds and cat tails.
The “pond” was about as big as a small swimming pool and it looked like it may be three feet deep in the middle. There were some trees on the far side of the pond. I got out a lure and tied it on the line while three cows watched. I got tangled in the weeds twice trying to cast the lure and on the third try I succeeded in casting all the way across the “pond” and tangling the lure in a tree. Frustration overcame me and I gave the lure a mighty heave. I succeeded in breaking the rod and the line and dislodged a big hornets nest. It’s amazing how hornets seem to know just where the person is that has demolished their home and somewhere between ten and twenty thousand hornets sought revenge upon me. In my retreat I managed to step in another “cow pie” with my “still clean” sneaker. I abandoned the broken rod and the tackle box and beat a hasty retreat back toward the camper. I had forgotten about the barb wire fence. I must have hit the fence doing about forty miles per hour. My body wrapped around the top strand and I ripped my shirt as I tumbled over the fence. The cows watched the whole procedure with great interest.
Ragged and bleeding, I made my way back to the van. I had ripped my pants, torn my shirt, scratched my belly, broke one of the best graphite rods I ever owned and had lost a whole tackle box full of lures. My sneakers were the color of cow poop and smelled like a pasture and I had missed supper.
“Well great fisherman, where are the fish”?
I ignored the question.
“Have you been wading in cow poop”?
I ignored the question.
“I guess you know that you have missed supper and I have missed my Wheel of Fortune”.
“Quit makin stupid comments and get me a bucket of water and some more clothes”.
I really should not have said that. The change of clothes was tossed out the door along with a clean pair of sneakers. She simply set the bucket of water on the step and slammed the door.
I went to the outhouse and washed off. I put on the clean clothes and went back to the van to find Willa had already gone to bed and there was a can of cold beans on the table with a spoon beside it. I watched a little French television and slept on the couch