Death Adders and Fish Stories

Comer, Eveylyn and I sat on the bench facing the lake watching the fisherman.
"I have a fish story but no one believes it ," Comer said,
Well isn't that the nature of all fish stories, I thought.
"Oh tell it!" I said.
"Well, ok, but you aren't going to believe it."

It didn't matter anyway whether I believed it or not. What I did believe in was the healing caress of the sun as it bathed their old wrinkled faces, Evelyn's crinkled in a smile as she listened to Comer's story. She nestled her hand in the crook of his elbow, and then watched the Canada goose on the shore. She giggled when Comer acted out some of the funny parts. It was hard to believe that in an hour she would have to be returned to the Alzheimer unit.

"So the next day we checked the trap," continued Comer,"And there was a catfish as big as you! 95 pounds it weighed! We had to kill it with an ax."

This is actually not too unbelievable. There have been  documented catches of some catfish as big as 350 pounds. Most of these live downriver from nuclear plants.

"And did I tell you about gigging for bullfrogs?"
"Gigging?"
"Yes, didn't you ever gig for bullfrogs?"
"No....what would you do with them after you gigged them?"
"Eat them!"
"Raw?"
"Oh, no, we fried their legs."
"Did they taste like chicken?"  Evelyn giggled.
"OH better!"
I made a face. "Evelyn," I asked, "Did you ever eat bullfrog legs."
"No!" she cried.
"Yes you did!" said Comer.
Some memories I don't blame her for losing.

"Did I ever tell you about the death adders in Papua New Guinea?"
"I hope it didn't bite you."
"No, if it did I wouldn't be here. One bite and you are dead before you hit the ground."
"Well, ok, tell me."
"Well, I was there with the army, and a friend and I went out walking. But the friend had two cats. Strange cats with big heads from the area. He told me we were to always under all circumstances STAY BEHIND THE CATS. And if the cats stopped, we were to stop. And he told me don't you even think of moving if the cat stops. So we set out, and one cat stopped."
"Please tell me you stopped too," I begged.
"You bet I did! And then the other cat stopped. And then there was this ferocious scuffling and explosion of movement, and the cat comes trotting back with the death adder in its mouth."
"Was it dead?"
"Oh yes, the cats were experts in killing them. And then my friend must have seen what I was thinking because he said,'Now we go back step by step, slowly, no running, just like we came down here, following the cats."

I cannot help but remember the Bible account of the Israelites in the Wilderness following God, who came as a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night to lead them. Their survival depended on following that cloud. It was God who preserved them those 40 years, sending them water from rocks, and manna from heaven. Woe to any who decided to step away from the safety He provided as they went through that treacherous, barren land. And it is the same today, though perhaps He isn't leading with clouds and fire. I smiled to know that not only do we have His Bible, His Holy Spirit, and our own convicting conscience..... but sometimes He even sends cats.

We headed reluctantly back and passed miles and miles of peach trees all in bloom stretching to the horizon.
"I have never seen that!" I said, with delight. The lake is one we hike around in the fall, or kayak on in the summer, but I guess I had never seen it in the spring. Funny how sometimes those in the winter of life can bring a season us younger folk might otherwise have overlooked.

Later I recounted Comer's stories to Asherel, who laughed with me.  I thought of Comer looking so delighted when I said we would try to make Thursdays our outing day.
"It's easy to forget there is a beautiful world out there when I am in here," he said after we dropped Evelyn off, "Anything I have scheduled for Thursdays, anything, I will cancel when you call!"

I glanced heavenward, and echoed the sentiment to the leader by cloud and cat.

Nehemiah 9:18-20

¹⁸ even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.
 ¹⁹ “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. ²⁰ You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.