RED SAILS IN THE SUNSET
One
day in 1955 Ed Carlson and Eb Brazelton persuaded me to go salmon fishing with
them, against my better judgment. Fishing never appealed to me, but it would
not have been polite to refuse their offer. We climbed into a small boat
powered by Eb’s outboard motor and chugged out into the vast Pacific Ocean beyond Humboldt Bay , the entrance to the port of Eureka California
After bobbing around endlessly, a fish finally
bit my hook, the only fish caught that day.
This picture shows me holding my trophy catch that day. “What should I do with this critter? I don’t eat fish.” Too late to toss it back, I gave it to a starving cat and sailed off into the sunset in search of meat.
At last, we headed back to the
dock. I couldn’t wait to get back on dry land. As we entered the harbor, a
Japanese freighter sailed past us. Its wake hit our little craft and caused it
to rock violently.
We’re going to capsize. The prospect of taking an unwanted bath in
that frigid ocean frightened me. Both Ed and Eb made light of the episode but
it convinced me not to join them on any future voyages in that little craft.
A prior fishing expedition with Eb had
caused me grief. While spending time with him at a job site in Oak Ridge , Tennessee
On my way home from this Pacific Ocean fishing adventure, a flat tire stopped me
in my tracks. After changing it, the car wobbled upon reaching a speed of 35
mph. I could not understand why. The tire had sat in that well since the day I
bought the car. I brought the car to the Firestone Tire Company dealer who
determined that all those years of sitting in an oil bath had deformed and
ruined it.
The dealer said, “You never rotated your
original tires and you never had a flat in over 50,000 miles? Write a
testimonial to Firestone’s corporate office. They might reward you with a set
of four brand new tires.”
I chose not to, as my claim might have
smelled “fishy” to them.
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