Under a hotter Sun; The River;

The River
Dark and secret, it flows slowly past our western boundary. It is a big attraction for the girls and I. We swim in it on hot summer days. So we are always a bit apprehensive what sort of creatures are hiding in the deep, especially when we heard rumours there were sometimes sharks coming up from the Clarence into this sidearm. As it was so dark, very warm and caressing it was just like it was thicker than normal water, odd! When one of the waterbirds suddenly came up from the deep and its head just popped over the surface, we would squeal and shout, a snake! The girls dived deep down to the riverbed and said it was all rocky. I didn’t dare to dive but I went swimming and I was always a little scared. I must have had an absurd look on my face, delight because it was bliss to bathe in this natural Jacuzzi and trepidation from the unknown creatures waiting to grab me. There was always a plop from a turtle or a water dragon that rushed back into the water. Sometimes a real snake would swim past and we all swam fast and scrambled quickly to the safe shore.

The girls have caught a huge catfish. Peter said shall we cook it for lunch? We were all sitting in the small gangway veranda around the electric frying pan watching this big fish sizzling. It was raining buckets, like all the heavens had opened their sluice gates. The rain came down in glistening sheets I had never seen it rain like this. It was hot and humid and very comforting and satisfying to hear the water splashing and drumming on the tin roof of the house. The fish was by now swimming in its own fat. It didn't look very appetising. It took a while until this big fish was cooked. When we gingerly tried it, it smelled a tad of mud and was a bit tough, stringy and full of bones.. Each of us ate just a little bit. We heard a car arrive it was Leslie a very nice man who owned this farm before us. He asked are you eating a catfish, because he spotted the whiskery remains quickly.
I said yes and it is not as good as people let us believe it would be. He was amused and said that we cooked the wrong catfish. There is a catfish that is very palatable. I am sure when he told the story at home they had a good laugh. Leslie came by because he had heard through the grapevine, again, that we were looking for a quiet
stock horse for the girls to ride. He said he knew a nice, quiet horse for sale with a saddle. We trusted him and agreed to buy his stock horse by the name of "Taffy".

Copyright T.S..

Photos T.S.