Why have so many rules?

Ever wonder why we have so many rules? Ever wonder why some of us break so many rules from time to time? I guess it’s just human nature to both make and break rules. But as I’m about to point out there are times when rules do need to be in place and observed. Many rules often seem silly or trivial to us but you can bet that they are most likely there in place for our well being.

I fished in bass tournaments for many years and was out on the water sometimes two and three times a week. I was as about as comfortable driving my boat around as I was my truck. Matter of fact I was probably more confident on the water than I was on land. It was just this sort of confidence and complacency that could have gotten me seriously hurt or killed. This type macho thinking is common in outdoorsmen…not just fishermen, and often does get people hurt.

Now as a boater I knew perfectly well all the rules…even though I was guilty of not always following them. Rules such as wearing a life vest, having a fire extinguisher on board and not overloading a boat with too many passengers I pretty much obeyed but sometimes felt they were unnecessary. That was until one hot summer night while fishing a night tournament in my home town on my home lake.

It was around nine or ten o’clock pm on a clear hot August night. My partner and I were fishing a stretch of bank we had fished many times before over the last few years. The night was quiet except for the low murmur of our own conversation. As we were talking I had him to stop and listen for a minute for I had thought I had heard a voice. Sure enough somewhere in the darkness we both heard it…sounded like a woman yelling. Next we heard a man yelling and then came the sound of a small outboard motor. A small boat was slowly coming up the lake toward us. We had up until then been fishing with our lights off so as soon as we heard the other boat coming we turned them on so they could see us and would know to go around.

The boat approaching was traveling very slow and it took them several minutes to make their way close to where we were. They didn’t have the first light shining on their boat and by the sound of things they were pretty well intoxicated. Lots of yelling and swearing going on and it sounded like they were all trying to give directions. The boat got within about twenty five or thirty yards from us before the driver ever even saw us which caused him to suddenly swerve [to the dismay of his passengers] and cut between us and the bank. This caused more yelling and swearing. As the small craft was passing I shined my own flashlight over in their direction to get a better grasp of the situation and was totally amazed at what I saw. There were five grown ups riding in a ten foot aluminum jon boat. The waterline looked to be about two inches from pouring over the side of the boat. I heard my partner say “Lord help um” when my light shined on them and he could see what was going on.

Well none were wearing life vests, the boat was very overloaded, much alcohol was being consumed and their were no lights on their boat anywhere…I’d have to say they were breaking a few rules.

As they slowly passed us by one of the drunks stood up and let me know without a shadow of a doubt that he didn’t like me shining that light on them. And when he stood up and waved his beer bottle at me and said his piece that’s when it happened…they sank. When he stood up and rocked the small craft it was just more than it could handle and with one sucking kind of a sound it vanished. My partner during and I sat there with mouths wide open in awe of what we had just seen.

Beer bottles and trash floated all around while the drunks made their way the short distance to the bank. Luckily no one was actually hurt but had this happened out in the middle of the lake things could have been a lot worse. Once out of the water the soggy five began a very long sobering hike back to the main road. The last we heard of them as they made their way through the woods and out of earshot was that someone’s daddy was gonna be real mad about his boat.

Needless to say as my partner and I prepared to head back down the lake to the weigh-in a short while later we both were wearing our life vest, made sure both flashlights were working and the boats running lights were on. And we have fished and boated in a much safer manner ever since.

Safe and sound in my own bed...or so I thought

Last night I was finally in bed after a long and tiring day. Tried to read a little but kept falling asleep after only a page or two so I just gave up and shut off the light. It didn’t take but a couple of minutes I’m sure and I was probably snoring and headed off to dreamland…or so I thought. Sometimes not even sleeping goes as planned.

I must have gotten very comfortable and still when I felt a slight pressure on my hand which immediately caused me to open my eyes. It felt like someone had very gently touched me on the hand. Without moving I strained to look around the dark room only to find no-one was there. But then only a second or two later I felt something touch my hand again but this time it felt like someone was scraping it with their fingernail. I guess instinct took over then and I jerk forward and knocked something off the bed up against the wall. I flipped on the light in time to see the tiniest little mouse scamper away in the dark.

Now all my friends that are close to me know that I’m not generally scared of anything. Not snakes, spiders, dogs or anything else that crawls, hops or flies. But this little mouse that just chewed on my knuckle completely un-nerved me. I went and put out rat poison all around the room, shook out my covers and even tried to go to sleep with the light on…which by the way didn’t work.

Well tonight I’ll be better prepared if I have any little fury visitors in the dark. Hopefully I won’t forget and step on half a dozen mousetraps on the way to the restroom in the middle of the night.

Be a Writer

Ever thought of being a writer…well what’s stopping you? I got my start through local newspaper…writing for free. I now write for many sites and earn a residual income for my work. If you’d like to share your work, poetry or stories across the world and earn a little at the same time here is the link to a good site to help you get started. http://www.triond.com/rw/153195

Second Hand Smoke!

Second hand smoke is a term we have all heard of. This is the smoke that us non-smokers get to breath when we hang around smokers. It’s also known as passive smoke or involuntary smoke. We’ve all heard bad things about it, but is it really that big a deal? Considering that tobacco is made up of over 4000 compounds and 60 of these are suspected to cause cancer…I would say that it’s a pretty big deal.

Second hand smoke is linked to heart disease, reduced lung function, lung infections and increased severity for asthma. Over 750,000 middle ear infections in children are also blamed on second hand smoke. Non-smokers that choose to not smoke in order to be healthy and live longer, are having their lives shortened by the bad habits of others.

It has been estimated that 46,000 non-smokers die each year from smoke related heart disease that live with smokers. I myself am a non-smoker that lives in a household with three smokers. These are real concerns for me especially since I also have asthma. It’s hard for me to understand why family members subject their loved ones to known health hazards.

It has been proven that there is no level of second hand smoke that is safe. Even in small amounts when we breath it in it is doing damage. It affects our heart and circulatory system immediately. There is no way to protect non-smokers if smoking is allowed indoors. You can’t simply separate the smokers from the non-smokers in any building because smoke simply travels freely with the air currents. Air currents are constantly changing as doors are open and shut, as people walk around and even our breathing in and out change the air flow around us.

The workplace has always been a problem when trying to deal with second hand smoke. Many businesses are now banning all smoking indoors as well as bars and restaurants. While this is helping quite a lot there are still more workplaces that need to get on board. I have always believed that smokers have rights but at the same time everyone should have to right to work and live in an atmosphere that doesn’t harm them.

As a non-smoker I hope to live to see the day when smoking will no longer be allowed indoors…including homes. I know that sounds severe and drastic but the smoke lingers in the air for us to breath long after the cigarette has been put out.

The Natchez Trace Parkway

The Natchez Trace Parkway stretches from Nashville TN to the south banks of the Mississippi river in Natchez Mississippi. Abundant with wild life and beautiful scenery this historic trail has much to offer. This 444 mile long history laden parkway has many views and attractions along the way. One of my favorite stops is the Pharr Mounds. These great mounds of earth are where the early Indians buried their dead. The literature here tells of how and when these mounds were painstakingly built by hand many years ago.

My buddies and myself have ridden part of this wonderful stretch of road on our motorcycles and are planning to ride even more of it this fall. We got on the Trace at Alt. highway 72 and rode south to I 78 just north of Tupelo MS. Included in this part of the Natchez Trace is the only official visitor center. The center is full of history of this very old roadway and is definitely worth stopping in to check it out.

The Trace not only offers a very nice road for motorcycle enthusiast but has primitive camping facilities, horseback riding trails, hiking trails and is a favorite among bicycle riders as well. Fall seems to be the most popular time of the year here on the Trace due to the gorgeous colors the cool weather brings out.

Anyone traveling through Alabama, Tennessee or Mississippi the Natchez Trace Parkway should most definitely be added to you list of things to do. I hope you and your family will enjoy this beautiful ride as much as I have…Lowell Henderson