I wonder sometimes if anyone else, other than myself and Bill that is, know the above saying. It was mainly just the three of us together during those early hours of the morning and Mack and I's bellies had been satiated with a 4am breakfast from Denny's by that point. The nostalgia of the bright yellow lights of the diner, when I see them from time to time, still warm me.
There were always two ice chests. One for the fish, the other for the canned drinks. In one we deposited, in the other we withdrew. We would be out on the water for hours, certainly from before the sun rose and well after it had risen. There was plenty of time to fill up the one and empty the other. I feel like we probably caught more fish than we popped open cans, hence depositing more than we withdrew. In any case though there was usually no lack of either.
I sat between Bill and Mack. Mack had his seat in the rear and Bill always manned the boat. All of our seats were swivel seats - the easier to face the direction of the fish when they surfaced up on one side or the other. Bill had a radar on his boat that usually alerted him to the presence of the fish at one spot or another and he would direct us to cast our reels off that side. I doubted how much in need he actually was of that radar. I imagined Bill had been fishing Lake Texoma for who knows how long before he actually got his hands on a radar and I imagined he could have fished it just as well without it. In any case though, I'm sure it came in handy.
The second ice chest had the drinks and from time to time we would enjoy a sparkling beverage. Mack made sure to have plenty of Sprite on hand for yours truly and he seemed to even his time out between Cokes and the other sparkling variety. I don't, on the other hand, really ever remember Bill ever drinking anything other than what wasn't intended for me, yet, we spoke in code. I was the middle man. For the drinks to reach Bill they had to pass through me. Whenever Mack would hand me a can and say, "Pass Bill another coke, would ya Mason" it was inevitably other than a coke.
Perhaps we spoke like that to avoid facing some reality or another, or perhaps it was like that just for the purpose of two best-friends to focus on something more important. Namely, the first ice chest and what it contained.
-Mason
There were always two ice chests. One for the fish, the other for the canned drinks. In one we deposited, in the other we withdrew. We would be out on the water for hours, certainly from before the sun rose and well after it had risen. There was plenty of time to fill up the one and empty the other. I feel like we probably caught more fish than we popped open cans, hence depositing more than we withdrew. In any case though there was usually no lack of either.
I sat between Bill and Mack. Mack had his seat in the rear and Bill always manned the boat. All of our seats were swivel seats - the easier to face the direction of the fish when they surfaced up on one side or the other. Bill had a radar on his boat that usually alerted him to the presence of the fish at one spot or another and he would direct us to cast our reels off that side. I doubted how much in need he actually was of that radar. I imagined Bill had been fishing Lake Texoma for who knows how long before he actually got his hands on a radar and I imagined he could have fished it just as well without it. In any case though, I'm sure it came in handy.
The second ice chest had the drinks and from time to time we would enjoy a sparkling beverage. Mack made sure to have plenty of Sprite on hand for yours truly and he seemed to even his time out between Cokes and the other sparkling variety. I don't, on the other hand, really ever remember Bill ever drinking anything other than what wasn't intended for me, yet, we spoke in code. I was the middle man. For the drinks to reach Bill they had to pass through me. Whenever Mack would hand me a can and say, "Pass Bill another coke, would ya Mason" it was inevitably other than a coke.
Perhaps we spoke like that to avoid facing some reality or another, or perhaps it was like that just for the purpose of two best-friends to focus on something more important. Namely, the first ice chest and what it contained.
-Mason
Great story Mason.....I am sure you passed Bill many cokes through your younger years!
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