Boogalooing

Uncle Leo
in his senior years

When Chuck wasn't fishing he was boogalooing.  These days I think it’s called partying.  One night when he was out with his Uncle Leo and some of his friends, they decided they would introduce Chuck to one of the “ladies of the night” who worked in a house of ill-repute up near Chiefland. 

They assumed that Chuck was still a virgin and they would assist him in changing that. When they arrived and the Madam saw Chuck she screamed at Leo. “How dare you bring that boy in here Leo!”  “He ain’t even dry behind the ears yet!”

Chuck was close to, or was already sixteen years old.  To Chuck she said “Boy you wait out there on the porch till they’re all through here.”  And then to Leo she said “Leo don’chu ever make the mistake of bringing another young’un in here agin, ‘cause if you do you won’t ever get back in again.”

Duly chastised, Leo laughed and promised it wouldn't happen again.   Chuck wasn't a virgin, but that was the first whorehouse he’d ever been in and it was a tremendous embarrassment and humiliation to be thrown out! 

He was really ticked off at his Uncle Leo and his friends.  He had to sit out on the porch steps with the mosquito's sucking his blood, and fume till long after midnight while Leo and his friends were inside having a great time.

When they came out and headed back to Cedar Key Chuck told Leo, “Unk, I ain’t ever going off with you again.”  And as far as I know about he never did, before he joined the Navy.  If he had I’m sure I would have heard those stories too. They both told this story many times over the years and had many laughs about it.

An Angry Sea

Back in the early and mid forties there was very little communication about the weather such as we have this day and time.  If you happened to get caught in a storm while fishing at sea you just had to ride it out.  I’ve always thought that a boat was an extension of my husband’s body.  He was totally at home at the helm of a boat at sea.

But I believe even though it was a natural thing to him, it was also due to the fact that he had the very best teachers while he was growing up.  On one occasion he had been ice fishing again with his Uncle’s. 

They had gone out deep sea fishing for grouper.  Long story short when they headed back in to shore they got caught in a small storm and later discovered when they made it back to shore it was a small hurricane with 78 mph. winds.  

Chuck had the distinct privilege, and benefit of watching his Uncle Bum’s expertise at manning the helm during the rough ride.  Chuck said “I’ve never seen anything like it before or since.

A Boat On An Angry Sea 

His intense concentration, reading the wind and the sea, anticipating how to answer to the helm, and holding the boat into the sea at just the right angle, and at the same time working the throttle back and forth holding it at the just right speed to meet each gigantic wave, and then easing her down in the trough, only to climb the next one. 

And as scarred as I was, it was awesome to watch him at work.  And no one aboard even gave a thought about taking the helm from him.”

Leotis, Bum, Odie Boy Collins

“Odie Boy, seemed to be gifted in that area, and the other thing he seemed to be gifted in was finding the bodies of fishermen and others whose bodies had wound up overboard for one reason or another. 

He just had a knack for it.  And neither he nor anyone else could ever explain it.  They might drag the bottom for days in search of a lost body and not find them.  But when Bum came on the scene he would find them in one or two passes.  He was so consistent it was almost spooky!”

The Florida Panther

Once in a while he would go ice fishing with his Uncle’s in their launch.  They would stay out several days and fish till they filled the hold.  As they filled the hold, they layered each catch with ice till the hold was full and then they came back in. 

That was as much to keep the fish moist so they didn't dry out as it was to keep them cold, and to keep them from spoiling.

Isaac Henry bott Richburg poling
his mullet skiff in Cedar Key 1900

They towed their skiff boats behind the launch; they used them for running out their nets and catching the fish. 

They slept, cooked and ate on the launch.  Chetter did a lot of the cooking and he was heavy handed with the pepper.  But if anyone complained, they had to do the cooking for awhile.  So, there were hardly ever any complaints.

And usually after the evening meal they always told scary ghost stories.  This was mostly for the benefit of the younger men.  They would swap stories till the tide was just right to drop the nets and fish.  One such night, they were in the Wacasassa River near the mouth.  Chuck told me “It was so dark in there you couldn’t see the man rowing in the boat next to you, he said we maneuvered by sound.”

Leotis (Bum, Odie Boy) Collins

Just before they left the launch Leotis (called Bum or Odie Boy) had been telling a tale about a big “Florida Panther.”  He said, “The panther comes to the river to drink and lays in wait to jump you, and he’s has been known to kill and eat grown men.”  By the time they got in their skiffs to go fishing, the younger guys were scared half to death.

They were rowing along as quietly as possible, listening for fish breaking. Bum suddenly stood up and threw his let-er-go toward the bank, and at the same time without his knowing, he had rowed up under a fork of a tree limb that was hanging out over the river and it caught him.

One limb slid under each arm and lifted him clear of the boat; at the same time the let-er-go hit a big bull that had come down to the river to drink.  The bull let out a bellow and Bum let out a scream that chilled the blood.

Chuck rescued Bum; his lower body was dangling in the river.  Bum still had the screaming memies, but everybody else was laughing so hard their sides hurt and they were teasing him about almost getting caught by that “Big old Florida Panther!” 

They had to go back down the river a ways to catch his skiff; it had drifted down river with the current while Bum was hanging in the tree waiting for Chuck to rescue him.

The power’s that be, refuse to admit that there are Florida Panther in our woods and hammocks up there, this area being known today as “Florida’s Nature Coast.”  But there most definitely are! 

And have been for many years, long before they imported the Puma or mountain lion which are basically the same cat, and there still are some originals in the Gulf Hammock! 

Too many people have been seeing them for too many years!  People who grew up in the area, and know those woods and hammocks like the back of their hands. 

A Florida Panther Track

One of the Wildlife Officer’s who worked in the area quite some time back and before any Panther was ever imported, took pictures, and made plaster casts of the tracks.  But those in power refused to admit that they were panther tracks.

There are also a few Florida Black Bear still in those woods too.  My husband decided before he died, that it was political. 

If the Power’s that be, admitted there were Florida Panther there, they would then have to force the timber companies to cease the destruction of their habitat.

To be continued

The Barefoot Artist and The Cross

Before I posted the ‘Stop Fishing’ story I was wishing I had a copy of this. I searched and could not find it. And then a few days after I posted I received this email. I thought wow; even though I have already posted it I can edit and add this in.

I wrote and asked, and permission was given, and then I decided this is such a great short story in its own right I would write it, and again permission was given.

Oftentimes our greatest inspiration will come from great inner turmoil of mixed emotions which are a result of whatever the trauma in our life is at the time! Such is the case with this beautiful painting.

During the process of the Net Ban there was a lot of anger, anguish, hurt and turmoil in homes of commercial fishermen all over the State of Florida. A way of life was being destroyed in the voting booth.

 When it was over there were thousands of people out of work. Some felt a few hunger pains for awhile; there were empty spaces under a lot of Christmas trees where presents should have been for the children, among other needs.

One more trial for this tiny fishing village whose livelihood has always been from the harvest of the sea to overcome, but Cedar Keyans being such a resilient people  have survived.

In the midst of all that was happening she remembered a friend had said to her, whenever there is a problem you can’t solve, just bring it and lay it at the foot of the cross.

With pen in hand she began to draw and this first picture above is the result, the first draft was published in the Cedar Key Beacon and the Gainesville Sun.

On the editorial page this inscription was added: “Father forgive them, they know not what they have done.”

Painting by Carmen Day Williams, Cedar Key, Florida

And then someone, I don’t know who; made a large a cross with a net draped around it and it was posted at the mainland side of # 4 Bridge and it is still there.

This next picture, is a beautiful painting of what the first drawing evolved to over a period of time!

This painting has never been put up for sale!

For the benefit of those who would like to read about the Net Ban go to Florida Marine Net Fishing, Amendment 3 (1994) click on this highlighted title.