90th Day in da Delta

The three month mark came and went as another fishing day out in the country with Dad.

Fishing Friday or how Moby Catfish beat DB

Early afternoon fishing.

Since Mississippi deer season (gun) opens tomorrow morning, Dad and I decided to go fishing earlier this afternoon so that we wouldn't get in the way of any scouting hunters. I'll probably won't be deer hunting this year (as much as I love to hunt) for practical reasons (no place to store a whole deer, and none of us really like eating venison) plus my Dad gave up deer hunting years ago. Both he and my second brother have a living room full of deer heads and assorted mounted antlers and other game trophies! Although, I've shot my share of deers; I've never achieve that "monster" deer trophy like my Dad or brother Herbert. But that's okay, I'm sure someday I'll get my own trophy buck but for now, I can enjoy the view at the restaurant of all the ones already harvested and mounted.

Deer heads and other stuffed game trophies.

So back to my fishing tale of the day; after Dad and I checked on things around the farm, we started our fishing before 3:00pm this afternoon. Almost immediately, on my first or second cast into the pond, I had a small bass strike at my lure! Wasn't able to set the hook on this guy and he/she leaped outta of the water and was gone just like that! About 5 or 10 minutes later, I had an even larger bass hit my lure! I tried to play him and lost him when I gave too much slack! Groan!!! I go another 15 feet along the bank of the pond, casting as I went and boom! Another strike but this one never surfaced, but gave a constant and stubborn pull! I was really surprised at how hard this one was to even budged! Part of the problem was that I was using one of my brother's many rod & reels and wasn't familiar with the setting and found out the hard way that the drag was set pretty high so, the fish (I assumed it was a hefty Channel Catfish) got away! I was pissed! In that first 20 minutes, I already lost three nice fishes in a row!

So I kept fishing (there's a reason why they call it "fishing" and NOT "catching fish") thru the rest of the afternoon, walking around the pond and casting my line as I went. Not a single hit or strike for another 40 - 50 minutes or so. I kept going until I was half way around the south side of the pond opposite from where I started from. On one fateful cast, my line was stuck! But it wasn't a log that my line was stuck on, it was as I would assume again; A REALLY BIG CATFISH! This time I had my drag properly set and the BATTLE of WILL had started! Oh my gosh! It was like I hooked up a German Shepherd in the water! Fishing line kept pulling out with the drag screeching as my fishing rod was bent almost in half (at which point I thought either the rod was gonna snap or the line was going to pop but both had held up well)! I assumed the classic point the rod tip toward the fish and reeled in line as I slacked the rod, using the rod to work the fish. After a couple minutes of this tug of war with Mister Fish, I felt the line go limp and knew immediately that my potential Sports Page headline was gone! I was pissed and on top of that my fishing line got all twisted up and tangle from all the pulling. I had to cut away a good part of it and re-tied my ripped up lure (which I soon replaced). I think I wasted alot of time trying to recover from my fish battle with "Moby Catfish" back around to where Dad was but gave up half way as my equipment was starting to fail me. All I had to take home was stories of all the fishes that I missed today, especially about "Moby Catfish"! So tonight we eat chicken instead of fish. Next time, Mister Fish, next time!

-DB-

Fishing Redux

Late afternoon outing on Sunday.

We took a short break from going out to the farm this past week. Dad decided at the last minute to go out and check on things at the farm like at 4pm but since Day Light Savings ended last weekend, it gets really dark around 5:00pm now.

Our pond was starting to get dry again.

It was really windy and storm clouds were brewing!

The clouds made for a nice dramatic pictures.

Dad wanted to posed in front of the Ginkgo tree.

We got in some last minute fishing before heading out.

I managed to catch a bass under the cold/windy conditions.

A fuller pond on Monday.

Overnight, we had a line of strong winds, possible thunderstorms and possible tornadoes go thru the state in the early morning hours. It rain really hard for about 10 minutes and then according the weather reports, the temperature dropped like 12 degrees! It was pretty cool all day on Monday with the thermometer rarely going above 60 degrees.

Fishing - round two!

We weren't doing too much on this Veterans Day holiday so Dad and I went out to the country alittle bit earlier. It was windy and chilly out there!

A pair of bass on Monday.

So Dad and I tried our hand at fishing again. It was definitely cooler today but not as windy as yesterday (before the storm). I walked up and down the bank of the pond casting here and there. About 15 minutes into fishing, I hooked up a small bass but it slipped off my lure. Undaunted, I moved about 10 yard down and promptly caught another bass and pulled it in. Within two minutes of landing that fish, I caught an even larger one another 10 yards down the bank. I wanted to fish some more but it was starting to get darker and colder. I saw Dad heading back into the truck and starting the engine. I gather up my fishes and rod and walked up to the gravel road to show Dad my catch. He was sure surprised. He didn't even get a bite while we were out there. Alittle later, Dad made some nice Bass fried fillets for our supper tonight. Not a bad couple days at all at the fishing pond.

-DB-

Happy Veterans Day weekend!

Honoring those who served our country in uniform!

Election Day 2012 (Ghosts of Ole Miss part 2)

First Tuesday in November (aka Election Day)!

After all the hype, speeches, ads, and debates; the day has finally arrived. We all expected a really close election. This was the first time in years that I had been back home during election time. I've long registered as a California voter years ago and with some foresight had became a permanent voter by mail (absentee voter). Luckily, I had just gotten my ballot from my Cali roommate last week and had sent it back completed a week before this election. Earlier in the day, Dad and I were driving around town and saw how busy some of the local polling places were. Locally, aside from the National election; there weren't really any major offices up (school board, etc ...)

Early Evening breakdown.

I never really got the "Red States" vs the "Blue State" thing before but I was sure watching CNN slice and diced all the possible demography and projections. By 11:00pm Central Time, CNN had projected that President Obama would reelected tonight by a hearty margin even though at one point Governor Romney had 1.4 million more popular votes. There were alot pissed off Republicans on TV talking about how badly they got beat. I was telling Dad that it was alot like watching a football game.

ESPN's 30 for 30 "Ghosts of Ole Miss"

On a seemingly unrelated note, I've been watching ESPN's 30 for 30's episode "Ghosts of Ole Miss" which tied the unbeaten Ole Miss football team of 1962 with the events surrounding James Meredith enrollment and attendance at the University. The documentary was based on Clarksdale native and ESPN senior writer Wright Thompson's article written several years ago. Thompson narrates and appears in the film as well. My brother and I noticed in the film, several local locations included in the montage of images. I think these scenes of my hometown of Greenwood were included to pay homage to some of the Ole Miss football players from the Delta including FB Buck Randall (who pleaded with mob at the riots to go home).The conclusions of the documentary were very hopeful that old attitudes and feelings have faded into the past in the 50 years since the riots on the Ole Miss campus.

Ironically, a post election protest broke out in front the Ole Miss student union with the initial 30 - 40 students growing into an estimated crowd of 400 fueled by social media. The crowds were dispersed by university police and two students were arrested on minor charges and no damage or injuries were reported. The following evening, the University organized a symbolic candle lighting unity event to bring about a sense of reconciliation and healing on campus. Sometimes, the more things change the more they stay the same.

-DB-
  

First Friday (in November)

Cheeseburger n' chips

Got lazy this morning and slept in alittle bit this morning (stayed up too late playing "Words with Friends" and watching "Big Bang Theory" episodes online). Still, did the cooking and house cleaning thingee today and spent over an hour on the elliptical.

da Country

Went out to the farm with Dad on what was supposed to be a really quick trip to check on things and then run back to town. But as soon as I parked the truck by the pond, there was this loud "Pssssssss" coming from the back of the pickup truck! One of the rear tires ruptured, exposing the steel belt.

Flat tire!

We had to locate where the spare tire was and get the lug nuts off. Unfortunately, the lugs were on really tight. I couldn't get any of them off even while standing on the lug wrench! I guess I'm not heavy enough anymore! Dad called his mechanic (the guy who sold us our used truck) and he was out there in about 1/2 hour.

Darkness in the country!

By the time the mechanic showed up, the sun went down and it got really dark! No moonlight yet but luckily we had flashlights, and area lamps that we switched on. The mechanic jacked up our truck and loosen four of the five lugs. The fifth one wouldn't come off so he decided to just break it off with a mini sledge hammer ... didn't work and he ended up denting up the rim as well. So he headed back to town to get his Acetylene torch.

Torching the bad lug nut

 While, we're waiting for the mechanic to get back, I spent time by the pond listening to the water splashing and shining my light over to see what animals I can see nearby (and fighting off the hordes of mosquitoes). In about 20 minutes, the mechanic was back and able to cut the 5th lug nut off and change our tire (better than my AAA service back in LA).

Sparks were flying!

So our "quick" visit to the farm lasted about three hours stranding in the country side. In addition, the drive back on the balding spare tire was kinda of scary as we were only able to secure three of the lug on the spare tire and the pickup truck started vibrating and shaking at speeds above 35 mph! But we made it home without further incident. Dad's gonna have to get some new tires and maybe a new rim tomorrow before we use the truck again.

Friday Night WWE Smackdown!

Well, we did make home to catch (for Dad) the last hour of wrestling! I'll have to watch "Fringe" online (tonight's episode in about 8 days from now ... dang Fox Network!). Needless to say we had a late dinner tonight!

-DB-

November already?!

It was mighty chilly this morning! Good thing I had the heater going. I volunteered to make lunch today; didn't know how my family felt about Spam n' Eggs (It's one of my food influences from my Japanese-Hawaiian friends back in LA). Actually, I think my fam enjoyed it since it was kinda of different. I had fun spicing up the menu with spicy pepper broiling with the low sodium SPAM, buttered corn, garlic scrambled eggs with steamed white rice. Lunch might had been a tad bit salty!

Spam n' Eggs

Lunch plate

Working out on the elliptical after a short shopping trip to the stores.

Deers by Big Sand Creek

Can you see Bambi peeking back?

Out on the farm.

After shopping for groceries and getting in a quick workout, I went out to the farm with Dad this evening. We saw that family of deers on the way. Was able to get a few more photos of them this time. Tried fishing for a short while. Dad got one big bite and then nothing. I basically just practice my casting ... didn't even get a nibble or anything so we left when it started getting dark outside.

Fishing with Dad

Bitter Melons

One of Dad's wrestling program on tonight.

We stopped off at our friend's house on our way back from the country to drop off some bitter melon that Dad had harvested from our yard at home. I'm sure that they enjoyed these Asian delicacies much more than we do (as much as we eat 'em at home). Once we got home, Dad tuned into tonight's wrestling program. For me, I have to wait until tonight to watch TBBT when the latest episode is available online. 

-DB-