..."A Pike" she said..what? ..a pike..a Jackfish...

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1944


Dad decided to go back to La Riviere.....A small town in south Manitoba..(that is the area he is from,10 miles or so from mums town of Crystal City)..anyway he took Faye and I with him..wow very exciting...A TRAIN...2 days and 2 nights....the trains were something in those days...they carried lots of passengers.....a regular choo choo...steam engine...that time was probably close to the last of them...the cars were quite posh...thick upholstery, carpet floor.......they were passenger cars ...built to keep lots of travellers happy....Conductors....guys shouting " All Aboard"...Newsies (selling newspapers and treats) waving candy bars and comics books at the kids... the kids making life miserable for parents who did not respond...oh boy...Faye and I were excited that day....g'bye mum ...waving out the window , we could hear..CHUG...then another CHUG....then another, only faster..until it was full steam ahead and we were ripping up the track at 50 miles an hour...there goes Chilliwack...there goes fields and cows..there goes Rosedale...uncle, aunt and cousins live on a farm there...(Johnsons)..away we go...ok where do we sleep..oh right here..ok that works for me...don't even have to get undressed...some people had berths...that's kind of a bedroom ..only lots of people in it ...beds with curtains on them...they cost more...we stayed in our seats..they were just fine...cushioned..rent a pillow from the newsy...... 2 days later,educated to the ways of a train and lots of scenery stored in our heads, we reach Winnipeg....We stayed at relatives who drove us to La Riviere....(100 miles)...That's where I met Grama Legg (her remarried name)...she looked about 100 years old and had a Hardware store in town...the hardware,cafe and bus stop was the town,only a block away to her house...it was warm summer , with lots of hills, trees, and a river...it was called the Pembina river...Grama liked to fish...and she took me fishing...that was so cool...she had an extra pole for me...we walked lots more than a few blocks to the river..through the nice countryside...I plastered her with questions cuz I was syked to go fishing...like bursting...this is where this whole fishing thing started...our poles were long bamboo canes..probably 14 feet...they had a line of pre determined length (braided nylon) tied to the hook...that was it....ok... she pulled out a jar of pickled minnows ,took one out and showed me how to thread it on the hook...now..watch me cast she said...and held the pole back with the line dangling and some laying on the grass...ok gently just swing it out there..and away it goes..whoa..that's cool...ok my turn...oh man ..hey I did it..oh gawd this is cool...But think it. don't say it to loud...cuz gawd could get me a bar of soap in the mouth from that old gal..fishing is what she liked best after religion...I learned the soap thing on another occasion.....
Wow we are fishing...The river is like, very slow, kind of a tea brown color,high bushy banks..except her fishing spot was grassy with no bush in the way for about 100 feet...well as luck would have it ...my fate was sealed when my pole jerked down and I hollered I got one....lord have mercy (Quietly)...this is oogly boogly time , look at him splash..."Go back, go back, go back ..and I did..dragging the prize up onto the grass..Grama kicking at it to get it higher on the bank..oh boy that's a beauty..and she was excited too..a smile I will not forget..."A Pike" she said..what? ..a pike..a Jackfish...its 3 or 4 lbs ..it's a pike....oh this was better than she expected...apparently she rarely got em that big at that place...oh gawd..oops..gosh.....I was going nuts......
Well a couple of happy fishers walked home that afternoon and we announced to everyone we seen of the great deed performed that day....My aunt did the cooking at Gramas home..She lived there...and I followed her all around the big kitchen while she prepared the great fish for supper....
I guess that was it for me...if all I ever had to do in my life was fish..that would be fine...and we could go fishing again tomorrow...


That Aunt Emma...just as lone tribute ...could make the best donuts in the world...and holes too..she just didn't make some she made lots...a big brown crock full.