Attribution: Gail Leenstra, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in acknowledging the Paralympic Games now underway in Paris, with remembering life- long friend Ingle who lost an arm as a result of a boyhood accident. As a fishing/golfing companion Ingle bested the keeper on a regular basis and there was virtually nothing he could not do.
Well, there was this one thing—while telling a fish story an appropriate gesture as to a fish’s length is not possible with one arm. At a gathering on a Prairie du Chien houseboat with some of Ingle’s friends, one of whom—Bill, also had only one arm, Ingle said, “How big was that northern we caught, Bill?” whereupon Ingle and Bill each held out an arm to indicate a very big fish, and to bring down the house with laughter.
An Olympic performance if there ever was one!
The keeper misses Ingle and still has vivid images of the soaring golf drives he made with his shortened-up clubs.
Photo by Bill Stokes