A SALMON DO

Sunday, July 25

Sometimes folks have trouble sleeping at night. This can be caused by too many naps during the day, worry, body aches or general restlessness. For whatever reason the writer woke at one thirty and couldn't go back to sleep.

Outside it was raining.

He went to his laptop and wrote two stories before going back to bed and sleep at three.

Onie was up at seven fifteen, showered and dried her hair, brined fish and had cold cereal for breakfast. Then she cleaned and put thirty two jars into cases.

All the while it rained.

The writer got up at nine forty five and hurried off to the showers. He was soon back and dressed for church.

We got to church at eleven.

After church, on the way home, we stopped at Kurt's for two bottles of beer so Onie could make beer batter salmon for the big salmon do later in the day.

At home at twelve thirty Onie worked on the beer batter, then rolled the salmon in it, rolled it in shredded coconut and deep fried it. My part was to carry the finished product to Donnie's where the salmon do was to take place at two. Yes is was raining.

Ah, the many ways one can prepare sockeye salmon and each is so good. Having eaten our fill and visited some we went back to the Marlin at four.

Once again Onie worked on getting jars ready for the canners.

Canner set up on patio. Butternut lettuce growing lower left.

Chuck had brought by some boxes with items from Bill and Nancy's rig. Rumor has it that the rig has been sold to Frank which means he will be moving back to camp, from a cabin on the hill. We worked on the items for Bill and Nancy, sorting and packing them in a box then sealing the box and placing it in the basement of the coach. Aunt Eloise left things for us to bring home for her, as well. The things were placed in a suitcase and the suitcase joined Bill and Nancy's box in the basement.

With a canner started the writer headed off to Fred Meyer to exchange two empty propane bottles for two full ones.

When he returned with the two bottles the second canner was started. The first canner will be turned off at seven fifteen and the second at nine.

The fish that Onie had placed in brine this morning before church were removed from the brine, rinsed, placed on racks in the shed, seasoned and had a fan turned on them to dry.

Fish drying for smoker tomorrow.

The rain that had fallen off and on all day played a gentle tune on the shed roof while the writer worked.

The high temp for the day had been fifty five and now it was cooling down. Inside the duo of Onie and Tom shared nuked beer batter coconut salmon with Kurt and Becky.

Later the couples parted, Kurt and Becky going to the house on the hill and Onie and Tom going to bed.

O BROTHER

Monday, July 26

Onie was off to Curves early.

The writer slept til eight thirty. With rain pummeling the roof the writer felt like he could sleep all day but instead he rose and had tea, checked his email, worked crosswords, talked to Bill, texted Clair, talked to Dawn, called Encore Bank on a trust account and called a life insurance company about an impending price increase. Both the bank and the insurance company sport the bane of mankind, phone trees, with which the writer was able to accomplish absolutely nothing except waste his time and burn cell phone minutes.

The writer feels it is an absolute insult to the customers for businesses to have phone trees. After all if it wasn't for the customer the business couldn't and wouldn't exist yet in an effort to squeeze the last penny of profit from the venture, the management opts to insult the customer by using a phone tree thus saying to the customer, “You aren't important enough to warrant a live person to talk to. You must talk to a mindless, uncaring, unfeeling machine, punching buttons and talking to the machine like a mindless three year old.” Then one endures endless time spent on hold while waiting for a live person, maybe, before being disconnected because no one is available at this time to help. And mind you this is the way the person paying the bills, the customer, is treated. If customers would rebel at this insult and complain loudly and at great length to management the system would be changed and as a side effect a person or persons would have a job. Yes, the bottom line would be effected but you, the customer, would receive the good treatment you deserve.

Stay tuned for a little comment later on automated check outs at grocery stores.

Onie got home just in time to rescue the writer from a fit of apoplexy over his encounter with the phone trees. She soothed his rattled nerves with a good breakfast, cornbread, sorghum syrup and venison/feral hog sausage washed down with copious amounts of green jasmine hot tea. After such a meal the world seemed a better place.

Refreshed and renewed the writer helped Onie start two canners, then worked in the shed to clean up and organize a little better.

Kurt came down to fish. He got his limit and the writer settled for five.

Becky and Onie continued canning, two more cases.

The rain that had been falling all day continued.

A wet spot has appeared on the floor in the bedroom. Using the big ladder the writer looked for a roof leak. He found a small suspect hole in the right rear gutter which he cleaned and re-caulked along with a bit of the rear cap.

The canners went until eight thirty and nine o'clock. We sat under our canopy and visited until we turned off the last one then went in to watch a movie.

O Brother Where Art Thou? is not a five star movie or even a two and a half star in the opinion of the writer but it does have a good music track. Half hour after the movie started Onie had enough and went to sleep. The writer hung in for the music and finished the movie about ten thirty.

Then he too went to sleep.

Outside a gentle rain fell.

FAREWELL TO BECKY

Tuesday, July 27

Onie is getting in a bad habit, rising early. This morning she was up at six thirty. She had some coffee and started some fish in brine. Then she made me some tea. She feels that processing fish will never end.

She was off to Curves at eight. It was a little foggy and fifty two.

The writer rose, trying to maintain his good habits, at nine thirty.

He drank his tea, checked his email and read the paper.

Onie got home. She had gone to Freddie's for cabbage and dryer sheets after Curves.

She cooked steel cut oats, added blue berries, walnuts and honey for breakfast and served it with coffee and tea. Pawpaw added the crosswords and they settled in to enjoy their meal.

Becky stopped by to help with cleaning and wrapping jars but Onie wasn't quite ready for her so she left with Kurt.

With the sheets off the bed and towels from the bathroom we headed for the laundry with the wash. While the machines were being loaded LaVon brought us a latte and Chai tea. With four loads washing we went back to the coach.

Outside the Marlin the writer picked up and straightened up, getting the place ready for more canning. Canners were cleaned and had fresh water placed in them. Burners were situated and propane bottles checked and connected. The boombox was set up for music and the table prepared for jars and wrapping later.

Onie was busy cleaning floors when Becky came back down. Onie abandoned her inside job and went outside where she and Becky wrapped jars, sealed the cases and stored the cases in the shed.

Not wanting to be underfoot or a hindrance Kurt and the writer headed off to fish.

With the guys out of the way Onie went to fold clothes and come back with the laundry. In the absence of the writer Chuck helped Onie by carrying the basket of clean clothes back to the coach.

On the grate where limits had been strung the guys were busy cleaning fish and helping Shirley with her fish.

Fun and work at an end Kurt and Becky drove to their house.

Inside the Marlin Onie and Shirley visited while the writer pulled honey wagon duty and filled the fresh water tank.

A campfire was started and Les, Jay and Chelsie stopped by to recount their adventures of the day before heading off to their rigs.

Kurt and Becky came back down and inquired as to our taste in pizza. Then they ordered from Magpys who will deliver.

The guys visiting Kurt took our fish to Custom for us as they had to go in and pick theirs' up. They are leaving early in the morning to go home. With Kurt tending the campfire the writer went to take fish out of brine and place it on racks to dry then it was time to join Onie, Becky and Kurt for snacks at the picnic table. Half an hour later Magpys delivered our good pizza. Sitting around the picnic table we each had two generous slices. Nearby the campfire blazed.

Kay was drawn like a moth to the flaming fire and she was followed by Shirley, Les, Wendy and Sandy who each seated themselves under the canopy close to the fire. The guys returned and brought with them healthy appetites but for all their appetites there was still pizza left at the end of the night. Standing and visiting they enjoyed the company of the regulars.

With the big hand sitting on the six and the little hand sitting on the ten Kurt and Becky left to go up the hill. With their departure the rest of our guests began drifting away, one by one, until at eleven thirty only Onie and the writer were left sitting under the canopy, warming by the fire as rain fell all about them.

Half an hour later Onie was in bed.

The writer played a couple of computer games and then fell to making notes and writing until two.

Outside it was overcast and a little warmer than previous nights.

3 X 6

Wednesday, July 29

Early to bed and early to rise means one is up before the later to bed and later to rise.

In this case it is Onie who is early to bed and she was up at eight. She had her coffee, read the paper and got ready to go to Curves for which she left at nine.

The later to bed, the writer, rose at nine thirty, read the paper, checked email and made phone calls before Onie got home at eleven. She fixed our breakfast, steel cut oats with coffee and tea. Crosswords filled our heads while the oats filled our stomachs.

Clean clothes from yesterday's wash were put away then the writer showered and dressed before going to the Sterling Post Office to check on a package for Onie. From there he went to Safeway in Soldotna.

By three he was back at Castaway.

Sixteen thousand fish came in yesterday.

The fish that had been in brine and then placed to dry in the shed were now placed in the smoker before the writer headed to the grate with Kurt. Onie soon joined us. Flipping, snatching, reeling, laughing and joking the trio pulled fish from the water, smacked them, bled them, strung them continuing until three stringers were holding six nice bright sockeye salmon.

By six Kurt and the writer were cleaning fish. Onie continued fishing until the cleaning was done at seven. Then she went with the writer to take fish out of the smoker.

Seven thirty found a tired happy couple seated at the table in the Marlin dining on avocado, tomato, buttered onions and rice and breaded chicken.

Tucked into bed at eight thirty the couple began the movie Apocolypto. It would be more appropriately named The Longest Foot Race Ever.

We went to sleep at ten thirty.

THANK YOU PATTY AND RUBY

Thursday, July 29

Onie was up at seven thirty, had her coffee and read the paper. The writer rose at eight, drank tea, made notes and wrote.

At eight thirty Onie left for Curves.

Outside it was overcast and fifty.

Nineteen thousand fish came in yesterday but only a few people are fishing.

By ten the sun was trying to break through.

The writer showered, dressed and returned to the laptop to write.

Onie returned home at eleven fifteen.

Kurt had met her at Curves and used the Subaru to do some shopping while his truck was in the shop for service. He rode back with her and is coming for breakfast. When his truck is ready I'll take him in to town.

A hearty breakfast, at twelve fifteen, was had by one and all; bacon, eggs, English muffins, homemade blueberry jelly, from Ruby, and figs, courtesy of Patty, coffee and tea.

Exercised and well fed Onie and Kay began canning.

The writer went up to the house with Kurt to help him clean the basement and get ready for his three buddies that are coming up to fish and sight see. They will be here tomorrow and the basement still had some construction debris and dirt in it.

Later the writer fished at five. A total of eleven were strung and fileted for later processing by Custom. They were put in cooler with a generous amount of ice.

The rain that had started in the early afternoon continued falling.

Kurt and Mark, both batching, joined us for supper. Onie served avocado, tomatoes, smoked brisket, chicken tenders, rice and caramelized onions. .

After our guests left we watched TV until eleven.

Outside the rain was still falling.

CANNER SUPERVISOR

Friday, July 30

Onie was up at six fifteen and headed off to Curves at seven thirty. She was back home by nine thirty and headed off to yard sales a few minutes later, with Dixie.

The writer rose at ten and read the paper and tried to make tea blowing a breaker in the process. He nuked some English muffins, slathered on butter and blueberry jelly, poured himself a glass of milk, grabbed some crosswords and sat down to his breakfast. When the muffins were gone he poured another half glass of milk and broke out the fudge. Later he showered, checked email, talked to David Matthew, looked at the goofy market and checked the fish count. Fourteen thousand fish came in yesterday.

Kay came by with her friend, Corine, and said she wanted to can some fish. She brought her packed jars and we took her jars from yesterday to her rig. Then the writer fixed the canner for her, putting Vaseline on the lid and an inch and a half of water in the bottom. She had no vinegar at her rig so we put some in her jars and recapped them. The bottom rack was put in the canner and the jars loaded on that and then the top rack was added and more jars placed in before the lid was put on and secured. Then the fire was started and the process was explained to her. One must wait for steam to expel from the vent, after ten minutes of venting place the weight over the vent in the ten pound position. Let the pressure gauge on the cooker rise to ten pounds and then begin timing the process. After ninety minutes turn off the fire and wait for the pressure in the cooker to reach zero before removing the weight and opening the lid.

With the instructions given and the burner going the writer took his rod and tackle bucket and headed for the grate and the waiting fish. One fish on the stringer, later, the writer went back to check on the ladies and the canner. The canner was still heating.

It was turning chilly and a light rain was falling so a campfire was started for the ladies. They sat under the canopy and watched the canner.

Back at the grate another fish was strung before the writer headed back to check on the canner. It had just started steaming. He waited for ten minutes then put on the weight. Sandy joined the ladies under the canopy. They had the start of a party.

Back with the fish another was hooked, bonked, bled and strung before the writer headed back one more time to check on the canner. The pressure was holding good and steady. The fire in the fire pit had burned down a bit so more wood was added. Wendy came over to join ladies and Mike came by with Margarete who also joined the party that was now in full swing. The ladies sat under the canopy as the rain fell in earnest.

Leaving the ladies to watch and time the canner as well as tend the fire the writer headed back to the grate where his pole was resting. Three more fish were added to the stringer. The rain fell harder. Sidney had joined the writer in the fishing endeavor and now the writer helped him as he tried for his limit. Les, whose wife Wendy was enjoying the company of the other ladies under canopy, also began fishing along with Chelsie. The writer stayed at the grate assisting these souls who were whipping the water in search of reds.

Chelcie Eager

When Onie came home from the yard sales she had many more treasures including a can crusher she got for fifty cents, two chamois shirts for fifty cents each and a camo shirt jacket for fifty cents along with other neat stuff.

With her return came more rain.

The writer went back to the grate to clean fish.

It was off to custom at nine. The filets from yesterday and today totaled sixty six pounds.

Onie stayed home watching a movie, a love story, she had bought today, for a dollar.

Back at nine thirty the writer went back to the grate to try to help Les with two more fish but none were to be had.

With a heavy rain falling and the fish a no show, we went in at ten.

A salad with our butternut lettuce waited on the table.

Sauteed' spinach and onions, and rice and onions waited on the stove top. Three crosswords were completed while the writer had his supper followed by more milk and fudge.

Note making followed. Onie finished her movie and went to sleep. The writer stayed at his laptop until one.

JUST ONE

Saturday, July 31

By nine thirty we were stirring, having our coffee and tea and working crosswords. Later we had breakfast.

At noon Kurt came by. He and his guys were going down river and would wait for me if I wanted to go. The writer got ready in fifteen minutes. Outside it was drizzling so he took some rain gear.

Onie stayed behind and prepared fish for canning and smoking, made brine, made salad for the event tonight at Sandy's and helped Sandy get ready at her place.

Downstream the writer fished three hours and got nothing for his efforts except a skinned bloodied hand, a bruised elbow and a bruised ego. He hooked a big red, ten to twelve pounds, and it got into the swift current where it managed to pull loose. There had been a lot of pressure on the rod and the writer had been leaning back to counteract the struggling fish so when the line, sinker and hook came flying back at the writer he tumbled backwards onto the waiting rock. It was fish one, writer nothing.

Kurt got skunked as well but each of his guys managed one a piece before we headed back up river.

At the grate we continued our efforts and still there was nothing for the dynamic duo.

The supper event at Dennis and Sandy’s was getting underway and the ladies beckoned to us telling us hot food was waiting. On the serving tables waited pork ribs and sauerkraut, brats, salad, potato salad, strawberry rhubarb pie and brownies. The writer had some of all of it except he skipped the pie but had three brownies to make up for it then it was back to the grate.

To catch no fish is one thing but to be bested by tyros is something else. At last the efforts of the writer were rewarded with a fish which he promptly gave to Kurt's guys, hoisted his rod and fishing bucket and headed home. He had caught just one.

It was just nine and Onie was still at the event.

The writer headed off to the shower returning at nine thirty.

Onie was home and we lay in bed and watched Dominick Dunne on Tru TV until eleven.

As we fell asleep a light rain fell.

The heavier rain came during the night.