When I was a boy there was nothing I liked doing better in the summer than to go fishing.Before anyone could go fishing though the garden had to be weeded.The first thing to do on a fishing day was to get up feed the animals and milk the cow. Then eat breakfast. After breakfast us kids would go to the garden to weed. Each kid would pick the row his or her favorite vegetable grew in, this way you could weed and eat at the same time. With all us kids weeding it didn't take long at all but we still complained about it being to hot or to hard.

Once the garden was weeded the rest of the summer day was yours to do with as you pleased which usually meant to go fishing. Sometimes we would go swimming though while at other times we would do both, fish and swim.

One summer day after our chores were done my brother Little Jim asked me if I wanted to go fishing with him? I told him no I wanted to go swimming with the rest of my brothers and sisters. Little Jim was persistant though so I finally gave in. In order for me to go fishing with my older brother he would have to agree to my request. He wanted to know what he had to agree to before we set off to go fishing.

I told Little Jim I would go fishing with him only if he promised to go to one fishing hole and fish there. I told him I did not want to hike through the woods with a fishing pole looking for just the right fishing spot. To many times I had gone fishing with my older brother only to do more hiking and trying to get my fishing line untangled from tree branches.

Little Jim always insisted the best fishing spots were just through the woods a little ways. I can't remember how many times I trudged through the woods looking for the right fishing hole only to find myself fighting bugs, getting scratched up by tree branches and getting my feet wet, which wasn't a problem until the turned they wrinkled like prunes then they would not only be wet and cold but hurt too.

Little Jim promised me we would find one open fishing hole and stay there no matter if we caught fish or not. So off we went hoping to catch some fish and be home in time for Mum to cook the fish so Dad and us could have some for when Dad came home for lunch.

My brother was not a boy of his word. Nope not my brother. The very first thing he had to do was start following a brook through the trees. I was mad at first but, the deeper we went into the woods the more upset I became. My older brother was better at walking through the woods loaded down with fishing gear than I was. Little Jim was so good in fact that it wasn't long before he was out of sight and hearing range.

I griped and grumbled to myself as I made my way very slowly through the trees. It seemed like every time I lifted a foot to step over a fallen tree I would end up face down the wet moss covered forest floor. It got to the point where I was so frustrated I felt like sitting down and crying.

After what seemed like forever I could finally hear Little Jim again. He was still some distance ahead of me but, I could hear him, which made me feel a little better also because if there was one thing I was afraid of running into it was a bear.

I came to a narrow log, which acted as a foot bridge to cross the narrow brook. Normally I have good balance but due to being just plain exhausted from my hike through the woods with my fishing gear and all the mishaps that go along with fighting bugs, tree branches, falling down and getting up over and over again I lost my balance and fell into the brook.

I was close enough so my brother heard me as I ranted and raved while I bent over to pick my fishing gear up out of the water. Little Jim called out to me, "George, are you alright?" Hmmm I thought, I wonder what he would do if I was drowning? I started splashing and screaming, "Help! Help!" I heard Little Jim running through the trees. He sounded like a bull moose. I heard tree branches snapping and heavy footsteps as he ran towards me as fast as he could through the thick undergrowth of the forest.

It was a mean thing for me to do but he had to learn when I didn't want to hike through the woods I meant it. I was still splashing and screaming but snickering at the same time as my older brother ran around a clump of brush. When he got to where he could see me I stopped splashing and screaming and started laughing real hard.

Little Jim ran as fast as he could for me. I knew I was in trouble. My much bigger brother grabbed me and threw me down into the brook. He picked me up and threw me back down. Then he grabbed me by the back of the shirt and pulled me out of the water. I was pleading with him not to hurt me. I was hoping he would show some mercy yet, I was lauughing so hard at the same time. I said, "The water is only five0inches deep for petes sake." Little Jim snapped back, "Well, Iv'e heard of people drowning in a bucket of water." Oh I felt so good my older brother did care for me after all.

I thought Little Jim would kill me before it was all over. He grabbedme by the shirt and said as he grit his teeth, "I thought you were drowning, I had a bunch of fish and I threw them in the brook and you're going to go find everyone of them. And, after you find my fish you are going to untangle my line from the trees!" Oh man I hated to hear about the line. After all the one reason I hated hiking through the trees with a fishing pole was because of how many times I had to stop to untangle my fishing line from the trees.

It took a long time but I found all my brothers fish and got his fishing line untangled from the trees. I was impressed. Little Jim had caught some beautiful trout. I was upset though. I didn't even get to fish. I still couldn't help but tease Little Jim all the way home about how much he must love his little brother to come running like he did to save me.

When we got home we told the story to everyone. I was laughing and Little Jim was mad as he was telling the story. He was acting all tough. Little Jim said, "I'll tell you what mister you better not ever do that again or I will drown you myself." I was still laughing as I looked at the floor. I saw blood. Not a little bit of blood but a lot. The blood on the floor was in the shape of a footstep.In a matter of seconds everyone noticed the blood. Someone looked at my tough older brother and screamed, "Oh my God you cut yourself really bad. There is blood coming out of your shoe!" Little Jim sat down in a chair and started to take his shoe off. All of a sudden he got up and started screaming while he ran in circles and jumped up and down. Finally my father got him to quiet down just enough to look at Little Jims foot. Dad started laughing. Little Jim had a bloodsucker as big as my fathers thumb attached to his ankle.

Dad asked someone to get the salt shaker. Everyone was running around laughing as Little Jim acted like a mad-man. Dad was not much good with the salt shaker, he was laughing to hard. The shaker was shaking salt but not on the bloodsucker. Salt was falling all over the floor as Dad shook so hard while he was laughing. Dad finally was able to control his laughter long enough to get Little Jim calmed down. Dad sprinled salt on the bloodsucker and in a short while it fell of.

I will never get the picture of my brother screaming and going nuts. So much for my tough brother.And to think he thought he was going to save me if I was drowning. I can just imagine what he would have done if I were really drowning and a little bloodsucker happened to pass by.

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), January 29, 2002

Answers

George, loved this story, I can picture little Jim walking around like the tough guy, you and I both know he is a softy at heart. being your younger sister, and remembering how we used to have to weed the garden, sure does make me want a garden. I remember weeding the garden always seemed to be our punishment, I miss that garden.

-- Deneen fl (Gradydubose@aol.com), January 29, 2002.

Thank George! Both my boys will enjoy this story! I can almost picture the same thing happening with them! Kim

-- kim (fleece@eritter.net), January 29, 2002.

George, Just wondering-when the book's published are you going to include any old photos? It'd be great to match the faces to the stories!

-- Terri in WV (mrs_swift_26547@yahoo.com), January 29, 2002.

I was just mentioning to someone about gathering photos so there would be a face to connect stories with. Yes, I think photos would be a good idea. George

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), January 30, 2002.

Boy, the "garden" brings back lots of memories. Weeding was punishment from what I can remember, but I would give anything to relive every second we lived on that farm. Georgie, thanks for bringing it all back again. I wouldn't change having each of you as my siblings!!!!!

Carla Presque Isle, Maine

-- Carla (carlieraeb@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.

Deneen and Carla, I think at one time or another as punishment we were made to weed the garden,but usually we had to weed it if we wanted to go to the pool or fishing.

I remember one time we were going to go swimming, Dad told me to go to the garden and weed a few rows first. I took Carla and Kim to the garden with me to help. I gave Carla and Kim each a row. They were just babies then. I was much older and faster. I was almost to the end of the row I had chossen for me, when Carla and Kim came running down to where I was. They were so excited. They wanted me to check out their weeding. I walked back up the row I was in to where they had stopped weeding. I remeber looking at their row from a distance and not being able to see anything green in their rows. I was shocked when I got to where they had been weeding and found they had pulled every green plant from the rows. They even weeded out the vegetables. I had to go through the pile of plants they had pulled and find all the vegetables and replant them.

I figured having them help me I would get done sooner,but instead weeding the garden took much longer than it normally would have. I decided it wasn't such a good idea to have those two girls help meagain. They were so cute though. They were very proud of themselves for doing such a good job at weeding.

It sure was a good garden though. I remember how good the house smelled when Mum was canning. I remember Dad sending us out to pick wild dill for the pickles. I also remember how Mum would make us all stay out of the kitchen when she was canning. She had things spread out every where. Also, I remember how pretty the jars of canned food loked in the cellar as they sat on the wooden shelves with the stone foundation as the back drop. Mum had to put up a lot of canned goods to keep us going through the winter. Mum did a great job keeping us all fed.

There are so many things I remember, which probably most people would have forgotten long ago. Dad loved strawberry shortcake, and I remember how he would send us kids out in the morning to pick wild strawberries so Mum could fix him strawberry shortcake for when he came home at lunch. Do you remember how we stayed away from the strawberries with the white foam because we thought a fox had drooled on the plant? We thought if we touched the foam we got get rabies and have to get shots in our belly buttons.Or, do you remember how as we picked strawberries how one of us was choosen by the others to keep watch on the woods? It was the job of the choosen one to warn the others if they saw a bear? So many memories!

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), February 24, 2002.

George I do remember the part about the fox and watching the woods for bear. I loved picking in that strawberry patch. And the apple orchard across the road. Mom sure could make some delicious goodies out of those strawberries and apples. Remember coming home everyday after school to home baked goodies? Memories are great. We sure have alot of them.

Carla

-- Carla, Maine (carlieraeb@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.

Carla, I do remember coming home from school and Mum having "Goodies" for us. I also remeber how she got up before everyone else in the morning and made breakfast. I always thought she made the best pancakes in the world. Mum sure did work very ard at keeping us all fed. She also was the last one in bed at night. She would stay up late and clean the house. She stayed very busy. I sure do wish now I had helped her out more in the house. She is one of my all time heros.

Do you remember how we only had the one bathroom and how Shelley would get into the bathroom first, so the rest of us would wash our hair in the kitchen sink before school and then we would all find an available register in the floor and lean over it to dry our hair while Shelley stood in the bathroom blowdrying her hair and putting the lip balm on while chewing her bubble licious gum? We used to get so mad at Shelley.And how every morning Mum would try to keep the peace in the house. I know she was happy when we walked out the door to get on the school bus.

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), February 24, 2002.