March 26, 2005 - Big Sandy, TX - 2 (More Sky Ranch)

Yeah, that's a bass boat, and yeah, that's me pursing my lips so I don't drool on it.  Arnie is my partner in crime and Barb is going along as the official photographer.  I can't seem to get the knack of taking pictures while I'm fishing.  Jody is a camp staff member who teaches kids and adults to fish.  He spend lots of years as a professional bass fisherman, had his own TV show for a couple of years and the whole bit.  Then he and his wife had a son, and everything changed.  The son is 14 now, and loves to fish and hunt.  What a surprise, eh?  Jody is responsible for maintaining the ecology of the lakes on this property as well as the Sky Ranches located in OK and CO.  He's mapped this lake all out, knows where the brush piles are, where the tree stumps are, where the drop-offs are and has marked the shallow areas so the kids on jet skis won't go aground.  He's in the process of getting a permit to thin the population of cormorants (water turkeys, he calls them) that are decimating the population of small fish in the lake.  It's a catch and release lake so that the fish population will be maintained and kids can catch fish for a long time to come.

Jody had made an announcement at breakfast one morning that any adults that wanted to go fishing with him while the kids were in their "classrooms" (for their outdoor education), he'd take them for $20 per person.  I jumped right up from the table and caught him before he left, and asked him if there was room for some more people, could we go.  He said he'd be happy to take us out after we got off work, and no, we wouldn't have to pay the $20 because we were SOWERS and doing volunteer work for the camp.  What a deal, eh?  A professional guide who knows the lake like the back of his hand, and all for free.  Have I already gone to heaven?  Arnie and I are watching him load film in his camera so he'll be ready if a nice fish is caught.

First fish went to the guy with the black sweatshirt under that polar fleece vest and the big grin.  Little large mouth bass, but by golly it was the first fish.  Not counting the one Jody already caught, of course. :-)

Gee whiz.  Jody caught another one.  Better step up my technique or the pro will catch more fish than I will.

Well, I caught the first stick fish.......and then I caught a tree.

These little green lizards (remember that one on the power/phone pole?) seem to be the thing to use.  And then look at what I've got!  Looks and feels like a real good fish!

Yup.  A nice large mouth bass.  Maybe 3 1/2 pounds, which is pretty good for me.  And then Arnie's got one on!

YES!  Now everybody has had fish lips on their fingers.  And the shadows are getting long, and Jody has a family to go home to.

But just a few more casts, OK?  And Jody nailed a mess of crappie just for good measure before we landed.  With smiles on.  What a great guy Jody was to give us the benefit of his experiences and take time to give a couple of old duffers a good time.  Oh, yeah, and the photographer tells me she had a good time too.

The two mares waiting to have their foals, and a load of hay heading to someplace to feed somebody.  Pretty basic stuff here.

This dining hall was a noisy, happy place.  And the meals were hearty and regular.  Unlike most camps we've worked, these people fed us three times a day every day.  Except for Friday nights and Sunday nights, when they didn't have any school kids on the property.

A different view of the swimming pool, and the looky there.  A houseplant!  Susie, of Frank & Susie, was pruning her Christmas cactus, and gave Barb a couple of leaves.  Barb put them in water until after they began to grow roots, and then they went into this little pot.  And immediately they started buds.  At first we thought it would simply be new growth, but it turned out to be buds.  And a pretty color, too.

Betsy, the lady in the blue dress, gave a tea party.  Hat and gloves mandatory, but the style was, shall we say, liberal.  Barb will give you the history of the tea set, because I can't remember it.

Sky Ranch is located near the SOWERS office and several other projects, and once in a while there's a potluck.  Can you believe it?  Food?  And lots of good socializing to boot.  And Linda and Kenny Brower run the SOWER office, and do all the good work of keeping us informed as to what projects are available, what changes have been made, and things like that. 

Barb made these not-so-little balls for both Lexi and Huck, our two youngest grandbabies.  And Sunshine would sing his heart out every chance he got.  He lived with Dave and Betsy who found him at a flea market.

And now I'm all caught up at last.  Finally.