Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that it is not uncommon to find the keeper insufferable, but a recent example tested the patience of even a cast iron dog. In his defense, the keeper notes the decreasing opportunities for someone in his age group to exercise the masculine need for ego exercise.
So, what the keeper did was go trout fishing to a favorite stream where he braved the jungle of canary grass and thistles to catch three pan-sized trout, which he brought home
and fried up with potatoes, scrambled eggs, and sourdough toast for breakfast the next morning with Phyllis and her granddaughter Alexis, who had never tasted trout.
The image of an ancient ancestor standing around the fire with his chest out while tentative tribal members feed on mystery fare that he has provided comes to mind.
The experience, of course, involves violating the Trout Unlimited creed of catch-and-release, something the keeper has had practice at, and which he sees as offensive recreational arrogance.
Alexis, a careful eater, proclaimed the trout as “boney but not bad” and something she might try again, while Phyllis—not a fish lover, said it did not taste “fishy.”
The keeper, while eating the largest of the trout, noted the fish’s “alive yesterday” freshness, which may have been a negative fact for his breakfast companions to consider, the realities of a predator’s diet sometimes being difficult to eat with.
In flexing his masculine “provider” ego, it is probably better for the keeper to simply stick his chest out and keep his mouth shut.
