I think we were in the South Carolina low country heading somewhere-probably Ga. I wasn't very old,maybe 5--we were on a single lane road,to our right was a swamp to our left a farm with a fence--there was a small black child hearding 4 pigs,large ones toward the gate just ahead on the left--he had a stick and somehow he was keeping them in single file along the narrow shoulder and was almost at the gate to his house---I stuck my head out the back window and hollered SOOOOOEEEE-SOOOEEEEEE---I scared those pigs to death and they ran across the road to the swamp as soon as our car passed--and the child was crying and trying to chase them-but he couldn't wade into the swamp--I have felt bad my whole life for doing that--I was a total brat--I don't know if they ever got their pigs back--if I took away the families money or food----damn brat kid--talkin about myself.
Eric the Codger

I wasn't supposed to touch dads fly rods--he had two, both were off limits--one was a split bamboo one--old and another was fiberglass.
I loved those rods and snuck them, the fiberglass one a number of times and something bad happened each time.
One time my younger brother was on the dock with me-he was just hanging out standing on the edge--I was casting the fly rod with a popping bug on it and I caught my brother in the ear with the hook and he fell into the water and hit his head on a boat tied up by the dock--I had to jump into the boat and help him out of the water--dad cut the barb off the hook and pulled it out of his ear.I got in trouble and can't remember what happened to me.
I used it one day,had it leaning against the rail and a fish took the bait and pulled the rod overboard--I got another pole put treble hooks and a sinker on and drug for the rod and finally snagged the line and pulled it in and washed it off and got it into its storage place without dad knowing.
The few times I practiced with those rods over 40 years ago--I recently bought MY FIRST FLY ROD and I can still cast one--sort of like riding a bike,ya never forget. The Codger

I just have a minute but that's enough to tell on myself!
I walked into a club in Houston I had never been to--it was dark in th entrance--red shag carpet on floors and walls--I saw someone walking towards me-so I stepped to the left to let them pass--they stepped to the left--I stepped to the right--they stepped to the right--I said look man I'll stay put you go around me--he didn't move--I said this is ridiculous---and then I realized that I was the guy I was talking to-in a full length mirror--I am so glad no one saw all that.
I was about 15 and my mom asked me to carry cloths into a laundry-I moved fast to get it done and ran right into a plate glass window--it was so clean I didn't see it--it laid me out flat--thank goodness the glass didn't break.
In 7th grade I bought a ice- cream bar--while talking to friends--threw the icecream into the trash and was left holding the paper.
Fellow Blogger--Donuts are my Life got me started on this train of thought-----off to work--Bicycle Rick the Codger

The house in Edgewater was both comfortable and fun to live in.
It was a rental from a really nice north east couple called the Quackenbushes-
Back in the day the home had beautiful hardwood floors,the doors on the interior where glass paned and had crystal door knobs.
It was layed out really well for a house near the water--had a huge kitchen--with one of those big stainless stoves with a cook top like at a restaurant-with both burners and a large metal cook surface.
The front porch was big and went all the way across the front-and there were beds out there and the wall to my bedroom was removeable so it could be part of the front porch and catch the nice breeze from the water.
The interior of the house was a large living room and off of it were bedrooms and a bathroom--and the back porch and foyer-area where you could shed those snow cloths and boots--
There was a basement as well--the only thing we kept down there was a icecream freezer.
There was one accident at the house in the 5 years we lived there, I bring it up cause I think about it quite often.We hired a man to cut the huge yard---the lawn mower got clogged with grass and the blade quit turning---the motor was still running--the man turned it over and pulled grass out from underneath---with the motor running----he freed the blade and it cut his fingers off---Gross--and I had to go pick up his fingers and put them on ice for the ambulance.
Everytime I ever mow grass I think about that--safety safety safety!
more later The Codger

When dad got his private pilots license or whichever license it was when you solo--they cut a piece out of his shirt tail--I understand that is a tradition--
Dad was teaching a man to fly and the man froze at the stick on takeoff-it was all dad could do to wrestle the control of the aircraft from the man--they clipped a barbed wire fence and flipped into a field--no one was hurt--but it was the closest dad ever came to a bad outcome.( with injury) the plane was broken.
Dad once pulled a man on water skis so that the man could break a Ginnis record for the fastest on skis. He pulled him with a sea plane.
Dad performed in air shows at Lee Field--nothing spectacular-but little things like--turning the motor off and circling and landing to show what can be done in an emergency--
The small aircraft participated in a sort of skills competition--spot landing contest--where you try to set the wheels down closest to a line across the field--the bomb drop where you drop flower sacks and try to hit a target--and the toilet paper drop where you throw out a roll of TP and try to cut it with your wings before it hits the ground---Our house was near the airfield and when we got home it looked like our yard had been rolled in Toilet paper.
I don't think there was anything my dad couldn't do if he set his mind to it--I remember watching him fabric airplane wings and fuselages---in the day that's what was used a lot instead of metal--fabric was stretched across the frame under a lot of tension.
Dad became such an accomplished pilot that he was offered the job of flying the personal airliner of one of the Duponts--which he knew--he chose to continue working as an engineer for Martin Marietta--later to be Lockheed Martin.
We had a large hurricane come through when we lived in Edgewater-her name was ?--and she tore down a few of our huge trees--I was given the job of chopping one up--not with a chain saw --just a cross cut saw and an ax--it took me a long time but I made $36.00--which was the most money I had ever seen in my young life--OK that's it I'm tired----more fun later----adios amigos-- Senor Codger