Gone Fishin’

Gone Fishin’

Fishing gone wild

The Older Boys Fishing I will refrain from saying these pictures are worth a thousand words,  just a few billion. Initially, I wanted to provide a hocus focus, requiring the viewer to recognize the differences in these two pictures.  I will provide you a hint on one of the secretive details;  our father was in one of them.  It’s hard to spot.  He must have been the photographer for the black and white picture, and why the hell do these guys look so impressive standing at attention in the picture below?  My brothers Greg, Tom and I are in the picture with our father, taken a mere twenty years after the photo of my brothers Mike, Steve and Glenn.   The other brother, Aaron, is living in a place called Driggs, Idaho….we think.  Clearly by the time his thirteenth child (me) was born, our father no longer tried to institute a hygiene code on fishing trips.

Always being embarrassed and picked on with regard to my hair, I now wish to pick on my older brothers, Tom and Greg.  Commonly referred to as “Toe Head”, I was agitated and obviously ignoring a mirror on a daily basis. Notice their smiles which seemed to come out of a garbage can.  Notice the pants which came directly from a patch shop.   Tom, an extremely talented man, wasn’t talented enough to tuck in both sides of his shirt.  Greg, additionally talented, was only capable of zipping up his trousers three quarters of the way. I blame this on my mother.  Zipping up pants is something which can only be taught by a mother, or maybe Greg just became bored and tired after peeing in the woods.  My hair speaks, in fact screams for itself. Finally, notice who has the most fish.

We were fishing at Scookum Lake at the time with our next door neighbors, the Jeffries. They were very nice people.  Dad didn’t have a truck, so Bill Jeffries graciously agreed to cram three sons and one friend into the back of his pickup truck with a canopy.

As you can see, we captured many fish and hadn’t showered before or after the picture.  My older brothers, captured below, caught many fish as well, yet seemed fairly well groomed.  I believe Tom, Greg and I were wearing the same Gannon-me-down pants as my older brothers, Mike, Steve and Glenn were wearing from nineteen fifty something.

This story begins and ends with pictures, yet there is one ignoramus signature story with which I must conclude.  On our journey back home, I was considerably concerned with making it back home to see my mother.  Therefore, when I sensed we were within a mile of our house, I tapped on the glass of the truck beckoning Bill to pull over.  Keep in mind, we were literally next door neighbors.  When he reluctantly, and kindly responded to my request, probably thinking I had to take a pee, I asked him a simple question:  “Can you drop me off at my mom’s place?”  Bill just laughed and said, “Sure.” My brothers still make fun of me to this day.

25 thoughts on “Gone Fishin’

  1. It’s too bad the camera didn’t get the full picture as I had mistakenly put on Ryan Jeffries pants (who was half my size) that morning and failed to realize it. The bottoms of my pants (or Ryans) barely covered my calves.

  2. Oh, and by the way. I distinctly remember that shirt Ben was wearing in the picture. It was his favorite. If your old enough to remember trips to the Landfill, I believe that shirt was plucked out of the one located on Dishman Mica road.

  3. It is a shame that the times didn’t lend itself to a dab of pomade like Dapper “Ben.” This would have given you an outside chance of keeping your coiffure in order. However, by the looks of everyone present, the only “focus”, except for the camera, was the pure joy of catching fish that day. LOVE THAT PHOTO!! CLASSIC!!!

  4. A Norman Rockwell special that is the true original portrait before the painting with all the bells and whistles! The spot on detail humor is down right slap stick funny after every ending sentence. Gazing over the picture is truly funny but the supporting comments makes the true story of the picture a bust your gut classic. I laughed inside and out the whole way through! Although you don’t realize brother Ben that in the lower picture we were all standing at attention as true proud patrons of our catch. Little did anyone know, but my brothers that I was “all sorts of pissed off” for not getting to hold the dam stick of fish that I caught most of. Thanks for making my day!

  5. I have been a part of the Gannon family for about 25 years now. Welcomed in by the humble matriarchs of the family, Rod and Margaret, after meeting Maggie in a Safeway checkout line on Mission St in Spokane. At that time, I had no idea what I was getting myself into… At first I was a little overwhelmed by all the names I suddenly had to memorize, but I quickly grew to feel like I was blessed to part of such a great family – in a big-top-circus-kind of way…

    Anyway, in a small room located next to the front door of the Gannon house on Locust St, there were many pictures proudly displayed on the furniture and hanging neatly on the walls. The pictures were of all the friends and family of the Gannon’s, so with thirteen children, you can imagine how many pictures there were to admire.

    My favorite picture of all was the picture of Greg, Tom and Ben holding their catch of the day, with Rod looking on. The look of a proud parent admiring the fruits of his labor (Margaret’s really…) and a smile that only a parent of the original “Rug Rats” could produce…

    I agree, this picture is truely a timeless classic…

    Thanks Ben, for putting a smile on my face and reminding me of why we all yearn to be “gone fishin”.

  6. Wonderful goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too excellent. I actually like what you have acquired here, certainly like what you are stating and the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it sensible. I can’t wait to read much more from you. This is really a great site.

  7. Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this website. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s tough to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and appearance. I must say that you’ve done a superb job with this. Also, the blog loads extremely quick for me on Firefox. Superb Blog!

  8. Wonderful goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just extremely magnificent. I actually like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what you’re saying and the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it smart. I can’t wait to read far more from you. This is really a wonderful site.

  9. Pingback: buy electronic cigarette

  10. Pingback: 30695388946

  11. Pingback: gravel marks

  12. Pingback: tonometr na plecho i zapjast'e.

  13. Pingback: Chto takoj tonometr daet naibolee tochnyj rezul'tat.

Leave a Reply to fotografos de boda en las palmas Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *