ahhhhh - The Girl from "the Cod" - as in the fish

It finally hit me... I find myself reaching back and trying to recall conversations with Big Port and wishing that I had written my recollections down years ago...

One thing that's been bugging me is I knew that he had a funny salutation for me just as he did for Mardi. From the moment I heard Mardi tell her story about how Port called her "Child of the Sun", I was horrified that I couldn't remember mine. and not that it's any big deal, I was more frustrated that my memory and recall was not cooperating.

Last night I dreamt about Port and Averyel... it was just as vivid as if we were in my house at Burns one time when they came. We were sitting on my patio looking out at the sea of sage brush that surrounded my house to the north and west, waiting on the eminent Harney County sunset, listening to the tush, tush, tush of the sprinkler heads on my wheel line, (I miss them, the sunsets that is) just chatting, just catching up on what was going on with my life and my kids.

Harney County Sunset - picture is taken from the road in front of my house.

The summer of 2001 they came through Burns and Tim came out and had breakfast with us that Averyel had cooked in their travel trailer. Then that evening we all went to dinner Apple Peddler together with Tim and Linsay. I was so thankful for they had stayed a few days and had gotten to see and visit with Tim as a grown man. I suppose, in reality because it's August is why the visit was on my mind, which spurred the dream.

Back ground story: In an earlier post I told about my very first day helping Port feed and he had two hay hooks on the seat of that old blue chevy pick up... (amongst many other treasures) as we were getting in he hung them on either the back of the seat, or maybe there was a gun rack that he hung them on. Driving along I was so puzzled about those "Gaffs"... I got to wondering about those gaffs and just what a cowboy 500 miles from the ocean would have them for ??? So I finally asked... Gaffs he said what are you calling a gaff? and I picked one up... and he asked me just what a gaff was.... and I told him I was from Cape Cod and the fishermen used them on their boats to move the fish around and when you had a big one on the line you hooked the fish with it through the gills and hauled them over the side of the boat. Oh he laughed and laughed... and then he told I'd get to see in a few minutes what the gaffs were for. and sure enough pretty quick I got my first lesson in loading baled hay on the pickup with hay hooks. He never let me forget it and I never did become adept at using the hay hooks. (maybe cause I'm so short)

So it was after that that he began calling me the "girl from the Cod" referring to my being from Cape Cod. I explained many times that if you were going to abbreviate it, the proper way to say "the Cape", as New Englander quite often refer to it by. But he never ever did say the "Cape", it was always "the Cod". He knew it got my goat to hear it that way... and the more I protested the deeper he sunk his heels in and the more joy he got in saying "the Cod". Sometimes he would say "little cowgirl from the cod" or just little girl from the cod. I can remember a pretty remarkable cow sorting, cow working day when just the two of us were sorting a truck load of calves... I was just grinning from ear to ear with good work I had done. In the feedlot ally, while the truck driver was taking his overalls and boots off, he road over, sidled his horse up, reached over and grabbed ahold of my saddle horn like it was the top of a gear shift and tugged a little and said "Do you suppose your little mama from the Cod, would have ever imagined her little girl from the Cod, would grow up to be a cowboy?"

When we hadn't seen each other for a while - when inquiring of my real family, he'd always ask "So how're things on the Cod?"

And so back to my dream.... in my sweet dream we were all sitting at my patio table, surrounded my that sea of sage brush, (and probably swatting a few mosquitos) when he said "So how're things on the Cod? I woke up with a smile... and had that 'ah -ha' moment. Sigh... I feel so much better now...