Saturday, July 3, 2010

Dressed for Success (in Humor)



My husband goes to Alaska fishing every summer, usually a couple different trips. He and the 'A' team, as he call the favorite combination of friends and relatives (all guys, of course), fish up to sixteen hours per day, interspersing meals and naps with marathon fishing.

As the days pass, the schedule begins wearing on these over-fifty guys, and everything seems hilarious. They even find humor in the cooler being mauled by a bear just feet from their sleeping forms (they were inside a plywood shelter). Often the pranks are elaborate and require not a little effort.

That silliness and exhaustion can be seen in the exchange between my husband George and his friend and guide, Brett. Brett left some rodent-type animal as a joke for George, along with specific instructions for its field dressing; 'no meat loss'. George complied, even stretching the tiny pelt beaver-trapper style and preparing the meat for consumption, dressed with fresh lettuce and condiments.

The time and effort required to careful eviscerate that tiny animal was inconsequential in the face of preparing a really great come back. Ah, Alaska, land of wilderness, wild animals, huge crab and salmon, sturdy people, and, once a year, silly fishermen from the lower 48...


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