Several years ago (actually about
fifteen or maybe eighteen!) our son Don called and asked me if I
wanted to go Crawdadding on the following Saturday. “It's
Beachcomber Days,” I said, “but I'd rather be catching Crawdads
than watching a dumb parade with a few fire engines, log trucks and
the 4-H club!”
“Yeah, it's a good day to stay
out of town anyway,” he said, “The parades at noon so lets go
before the madhouse starts.”
The following Saturday he pulled
into our driveway about eleven. “Let's take our pickup,” I said,
as we grabbed a couple Crawdad nets and a burlap sack. “The truck
needs gas but we can get it upriver at Tidewater.”
We hopped in and headed up Highway
34 towards our destination; the junction of Lobster Creek and Five
Rivers. “I hear there are tons of Crawdads there,” Don said, “we
should really clean up!”
“Oh oh” I said as we pulled
into Tidewater. “The gas station's closed!”
“That means we have to go back to
town for gas. Crap!”
“They probably closed so they
could go to Waldport for Beachcomber Days,” Don said, looking at
his watch. “We'd better hurry or we'll get stopped by the parade.”
When we reached town we could see
the ambulances, fire engines, and log trucks all lined up on a side
street, waiting to start on their way through town, and we could see
that the sidewalks were lined with spectators.
“Good! They haven't started yet,
let's gas up and get out of here,” Don said.
There were a few cars ahead of us at
the pump and we impatiently waited while they filled up. When we
finally got to the pump I told the attendant, “We're in kind of a
hurry, we want to get out of here before the parade starts.”
“I think you're too late!” he
said. He was right, we could hear the fire trucks and ambulances
demonstrating all the siren noises they could make with their WOOP
WOOPs and WAH WAHs, a sure sign the world famous Beachcomber Days
parade was underway. Our route out of town was blocked so we sat and
watched the parade slowly crawl by.
Finally, after what seemed like an
eternity, it ended and we worked our way through the jammed up
traffic and got underway again. We made good time to Five Rivers Road
and a few minutes later we parked on a wide spot near the junction of
Lobster Creek and Five Rivers.
“I can see Crawdads from here!”
Don yelled as he piled out of the truck and started unloading our
gear. Sure enough, there were Crawdads everywhere, and we waded in
after them. Don would lift a rock and I'd hold the net downstream to
catch them as they tried to escape. Then we'd chase after the ones
we missed, splashing and sliding on the mossy rocks. I was wearing a
loose fitting pair of Levis which soon became soaked and waterlogged
along with every thing else. I was having a lot of trouble keeping
them up they got so heavy. I was stumbling, sliding and splashing
along, holding my pants up with one hand, carrying a burlap bag half
full of Crawdads and a net in the other when I told Don,”Let's take
a break, I'm pooped!”
We waded back down toward the truck,
climbed out into the hot sunshine and sat on on a big rock to warm
up. “Wow!' I said,”This feels great!” I squatted down on the
stream side of the rock, my pants still at half mast with a lot of
“plumbers butt” showing. On the other side of the rock I heard
Don yell, “Hey Dad, I caught a lizard!” I looked over my shoulder
just in time to see it flying though the air as he tossed it to me.
Unfortunately, since I had my back
turned, I didn't try to catch it, and it landed perfectly in the
crack of my plumbers butt. Being used to hiding in cracks it
scrambled deeper. Now, I'm not much of a dancer, but much to Don's
amusement I went through my whole repertoire. Starting with the River
Dance, followed with lively versions of the Bunny Hop and the Funky
Chicken, then some steps I made up on the spot.
Don was laughing so hard he was
crying when I finally pulled the little guy out of my pants, his
claws digging in all the way. I frantically tossed him out into the
river and the last I saw he was swimming for the far bank, no doubt
to find another crack to hide in.
We caught a lot of Crawdads and had
a lot of laughs. It was a good trip.
