August 18 2007

Well gang, as you know, we had ourselves a little rain in Houston this week Marcell Thibedeaux, lived by a local bayou in a house on stilts and "Skip" Mariner got to wondering how Marcell was doing.
"Skip" threw a pirogue in the back of his pick-up and drove out to Marcell’s place with a case of beer.
When it got too deep for the truck, "Skip" pulled the pirogue out of the back of the truck, stowed the case of beer, and paddled on.
As he approached the place, there was Marcell on the deck over-looking the water with a beer in one hand and a long handled fork in the other. The grill was smoking.
"Skip" should have known better to worry about Marcell. He iced down the beer, popped one, and was standing by the rail with Marcell shooting the breeze, so to speak, when Marcell whispered "Look, look!" and pointed down at the water.
Just barely sticking out from under the deck was the tip of an alligator’s tail.
Marcell tied a piece of chicken to a length of monofilament, and then fashioned a slip-knot on the end of a piece of some half inch rope.
He got a glint in his eye, raised his finger to his lips, and gently lowered the slip-knot into the water by the ‘gator tail.
Then he took the piece of chicken and plunked it noisely outboard of the slip-knot.
The ‘gator tail disappeared, and the ‘gator’s head came straight through the loop in the slip-knot and grabbed the chicken.
Marcell heaved back on the half inch rope with all his might.
"I got him!" Marcell cried out triumphantly.
What follows happened in a blur.
The ‘gator pulled Marcell into the water, taking out the top rail of the deck railing with him. Marcell landed perfectly, with one leg on either side of the 'gator’s neck and immediately grabbed the slip-knot.
Now alligators are better at the "spin move" than a brahma bull, and in the next couple of seconds, Marcell was above the water and then under the water so many times, that he held his breath all the time just to be sure.
On the deck, "Skip" waived his hat in the air and hollered "Ride ‘em cowboy!"
When Marcell finally separated himself from the ‘gator, he waded through chest high water and walked up the stairs with a bloody nose, abrasions all over his face, mud and grass plastered on him, and the rope in his hand,\.
He held the rope up. This is the reason that I didn’t get away sooner." He said, "this baby is pure manilla hemp."
"Skip" grinned at Marcell, "Hell, I just thought you wanted to hang on for the full eight seconds."

Till next week
Helga Biermeister
Secretary