Sunday, 21 March 1999
Uncle Lewie
Remember yesterday I wrote to a girl named Mary (her site is called Easy Writer.I love the pun.) and told her that I liked her log home? She browsed my web site and noticed the mention of the shrimp boats and snakes and things and then replied to my mail saying she was flipping out over it.I started thinking about some of the things she said in her e-mail and started wondering if perhaps she knew my uncle so I wrote to her first thing this morning and asked her. Sure enough, she knew him. Here's what she wrote:
Yes, your uncle was my boss on the shrimp boat! Mr. Schell was the one who taught me to always dream big and at least 1/4 of my dreams would come true. I worked for him almost two years before moving back to NC. His boat was named Miss Alma after his wife at the time (a much younger woman who had two boys)and she ran the bait shop during the day when we were out shrimping. He kept pictures of Alma nude in front of the wheel at all times but was never anything but just really good to me and my wee babe. He always treated me like a good friend instead of just a deck hand and was so kind all the time. He had the cutest little scooter that he would ride down to the boat every morning and he would let me take it out and cruise the T-head.
After reading more of her web pages and sending a few e-mails back and forth, I was flipping out, too. Such a small world, she says. Then, just for the icing on the cake, I was reading Al's year-ago-today entry and he was talking about Mary and Easy Writer.
All in all, though, it has been a fairly laid back day and I even took a NAP! I deserved it after getting picked on by some old bat at the grocery store. She had one of those places set up with food samples, flour tortilla pieces with stuff inside. I started to pick one up (by the toothpick) then noticed that there were two plates, so I hesitated and asked "Are these two different things?" She said in her really mean, old lady voice, "Don't pick that up and then put it back down on the plate" and then she picked it up herself and threw it in the trash (with emphasis.) Geeze, it isn't like I wiped my ass with it or anything.
I think I'm going to start putting the tomato seedlings out to harden. Tom and I decided to plant the potatoes in some tubs and save the space in the garden for other stuff.
That's Cricket in the photo. He is chewing on a monster bone I found in some mystery meat. Several months ago, my daughter needed some extra space in her freezer so she gave us a LOT of frozen meat. The thing is, I don't know what it is until I thaw it out, so we call it mystery meat.
Speaking of freezers . . we named the fish. It is now called Moby. I bought a huge salmon (not a fillet or a steak, the whole salmon) a few weeks ago. I didn't notice when I got him that the cooking instructions were written in some language I don't even recognize. Norweigian? Since I don't know how to cook a big fish, he just sort of lives in the freezer. He's so big that when you open the door, the tail sort of waves at you. I've grown attached to him, now, so had Tom name him for me.
