I have a sure-fire way to secure our borders and prevent anyone from entering our country illegally. Make them go through customs in Jamaica. “Okay you guys who have just waded across the Rio Grande, you can stay here in America no questions asked. But first you have to clear customs at Montego Bay.” To clear customs, you would first have to have a passport, which means going to the Post … [Read more...]
When Music Was Instrumentally Great
Music without words. Is that possible anymore? Today’s music consists mainly of light rock, heavy metal, and rap. It would be hard to do rat-a-tat rap music without words like “Ho’s in the hood” or rock music without a pounding beat and an echo chamber for the soloist. But Boomers remember when there was great music, and no words whatsoever. We called them “Instrumentals.” Remember … [Read more...]
How To Measure A Fish
Measuring fish is not a science. It’s an art form. Establishing the length of a trout, for example, should never be confined to a one-dimensional instrument such as an ordinary ruler. Rulers, after all, are made and designed by mortals and are thus subject to error. I caught a brook trout on the Moorman’s river one day, removed the hook and gently released him back into the pool. A … [Read more...]
Whales and Jaws
The most visited island in Hawaii? If you said Oahu, home of Honolulu, you’d be wrong. It’s Maui, the second largest island. But this is a recent phenomenon. Today Maui is known for two things. Whales and jaws. But not jaws as in sharks, but “jaws” as in the fury of tidal waves crashing along a certain beach on the western coast. This is surfing country and a place the locals … [Read more...]
Blacksnakes and Copperheads
Last week I ran an article on water snakes written byJ.D. Kleopfer, an expert in snake-ology. Basically, he said there are no cottonmouth moccasins in Central Virginia. They all live near the coast. Yet, everyday someone will see a water snake and swear it was a cottonmouth. Black snakes are another species that are misunderstood. We once had a small cottage on a lake in Greene … [Read more...]
Kauai: Beauty in the Extreme
Our last island stop was Kauai, known as the Garden Island. It is a place of extreme beauty. We spent a day and a half on Kauai after docking at Nawiliwili Bay. I like that name – Na-Wili-Wili. I like the place, too. Yesterday I played golf, and then Nancy and I went on one of the recommended tours with a train ride through a working plantation and then a Luau. The plantation tour was … [Read more...]
Life On a Pier
By Jim Brewer If by the grace of God, I am given a free and undeserved pass to heaven, I expect to meet St. Peter - not at the Pearly Gates - but on the entrance to a fishing pier and greeted this way. “Here is a Penn rod and reel, Jim. You can spend eternity on this pier and the fish are biting.” I am truly happy on a pier, most any pier, and it’s been that way since I was a child, … [Read more...]
Columns To Remember
I have been writing outdoor columns for over 30 years. I thought it would be fun to go back in the archives and print a few of the oldies. Below is the first in this series. Go Easy on the Scent Wafers It was my annual bow hunt in Bath County, an opportunity to fell a deer with a deadly shot to the heart. Trouble is, for the past couple seasons, my arrows have remained … [Read more...]