LIVER

Uncle Charlie had two ponds next to Grandmother's place.

The "old" pond was available at any time for the ranch hand to fish to his heart's content. MANY long days were spent on that beautiful expanse of piscatorial hunting acreage angling for the ever elusive "mud cats", red ears, blue gill and occasional turtle. Grasshoppers were free and the fish thought they were lobster so it was a match made in heaven.

The "new" pond was off limits to kiddos (me). This forbidden Garden of Eden was stocked with channel catfish (think good eatin').

Seein' as how Charlie was Grandmother's brother, she naturally had poaching rights on the "new" pond. I have this wonderful memory of her putting on a "sun" dress with a long hem, long sleeves, and collared neck up to her chin. Ola Mae would top this ballroom quality gown with a bonnet she had made from the finest chicken feed sack material one could imagine (all homemade naturally).

Grandmother would get her carefully stowed cane pole with just the right size braided line, cork, and hook and then raid the freezer.

I don't know if my grandparents cooked/ate calf liver, but I do know that Grandmother treasured it as catfish bait. She would get some choice sliver of the slimy maroon filtering organ and walk the cow path to the southeast down to the "new" pond. She would innocently scatter insects and temporarily interest the cows .

My prejudiced view is that it don't take a lot of "skill" to hold a cane pole. HOWEVER, I do know two things. 1. I have held a dang cane pole til I near froze and caught nothing. 2. Grandmother seemed to never fail to haul an absolutely beautiful catfish back to the house to be fricasseed in her imitable style for a skillet delight.

Maybe she held her mouth right. Maybe she spit on the bait. If you ask me, I'm thinkin' the good Lord saw the most loving, faithful woman that ever lived and granted her one of the few pleasures she ever wanted.

Thank you our gracious and loving Father, for if ever an earth bound soul deserved such a gift, my dear sweet Grandmother was that person.