Tales from the Parking Lot

Copyright © 2012 by Denny Sieber.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011962421

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4691-3564-9

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4691-3563-2

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4691-3565-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[email protected]

108556

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE—THE EARLY YEARS

CHAPTER TWO—JESS

CHAPTER THREE—THE RIVER

CHAPTER FOUR—ICE FISHING

CHAPTER FIVE—POSTAL STORIES

CHAPTER SIX—THE PATH TO BROADWATER

CHAPTER SEVEN—OUT WEST

CHAPTER EIGHT—OTHER TRIPS

CHAPTER NINE—MORE EXPLORING

CHAPTER TEN—LABRADOR

CHAPTER ELEVEN— GREEN DRAKE TIME

CHAPTER TWELVE— THE PARKING LOT

CHAPTER THIRTEEN— RAMBLING ON

FORWARD

This is a collection of tales about nature, fishing, adventure, humor, history, and dumb teenage acts. All is true, at least as I remember things.

Don’t expect the Great American Novel, or for that matter a true biography. You’ll find out a lot about me as it is, as you read. This is necessary to help you understand where these tales are coming from. I’m not sure myself, but I had a lot of fun living these tales.

I’ve never had any formal education past high school. I never read but a half dozen books in my life until my mid-fifties, when, on a Montana trip, friends Reed and Jim and I stopped at Wall City, SD. They bought a pile of books about Indians and mountain men. I thought to myself, what a waste of time and money. Well, with the hundreds of miles we drove, I was often in the back of the truck in a built-in bunk, and bored. Eventually, I picked up a book and started to read. Soon I was hooked and even now, in my late 70’s, I read from three to six books a month. As long as the author tells a good story, I enjoy them. A few years ago, Walt Young’s Pennsylvania Outdoor Times offered readers a chance to enter short stories. Because this started during hunting season, and I knew the editor, I thought I’d try it. Sure enough, it got published, which gave me enough confidence to try to tell some more stories, which need to be told rather than be buried with me. My kids and grandchildren will be mortified at some of the things I did and the time I wasted doing them. Sorry—what I am is what you get.

CHAPTER ONE—THE EARLY YEARS

I was born in January of 1933, near the end of the Great Depression, the youngest of five with three brothers and one sister. We were poor, but I thought we were middle class, just like everyone else in our neighborhood. Below our back yard was a ball field and a small creek beyond that. Every house had kids who would meet there most evenings, and most of the adults too. Horseshoes, marbles, ball games, track meets, and whatever else our imaginations could dream up took place. One kid became the state marbles champ.

I was naturally drawn to the water and wanted to fish, although I had no idea how to go about it. Finally, my brother Bob made me a rod by straightening out a wire clothes hanger, bending an eye on the end, and putting it in a piece of broom handle, then an empty thread spool on a nail for a reel, and a bent pin for a hook. The bait I could handle myself, as our back yard was mostly vegetable garden. It didn’t take long to gather several worms, which went into a Prince Albert tobacco can. After many trips and lots of advice, I finally caught a few 2-3" minnows. A monster was turned loose! I was 4 or 5 years old at the time.

Fortunately, I got to playing ball and doing other things, like building shacks, catching garter snakes, and making swimming holes in that 5-6’ stream. Mom always said I should have been born with fins and gills.

I especially remember our first big track meet. It was a sign to me that I was really growing up and could do some things as well or better than the big kids. In my pre-teen years, I never walked anywhere—I ran. If it was two blocks to the neighborhood store—I ran. If I went to the ball field—I ran. My friend’s house—I ran. Well, you get the idea.

For our track meets, we cut saplings in the nearby woods for pole vaulting; we used a fairly round stone for shot puts and a fairly flat stone for discus, saw horses for hurdles, and for finish lines we just scratched a line in the dirt.

We had one super athlete a tad older than me. John S. could pole vault onto his garage roof and land on his feet at the age of 12. He was a fast runner and a good ball player too. However, John was a bit odd. He never went out for sports in high school and spent his adult years in the Army. He would also sit on top of their chicken coop and announce imaginary baseball games (including crowd noise) for hours. My mother would just howl and laugh when John’s voice came across the hollow.

I entered everything, but didn’t do well until our marathon—twice around the ball field, then the length of our alley, which was two blocks, then the upper alley, another two blocks, then the length of our street, yet another two blocks. I was having fun trotting along watching all the kids my age drop out, then most of the older kids. When we started down the final block of our street, it was just me and two senior high boys. I was wondering when they would leave me in the dust, but then realized they were gasping for breath, so I ran as fast as I could and beat them by half a block! Bubbling with joy, I accepted congratulations and pats on the back, but I knew better than to strut or brag because they could still whip my skinny little butt.

Zook’s Dam

I had a great summer vacation one year when I got to visit my cousin Willis at our grandparents’ farm in Juniata County. Will and his younger brothers, Irving and Curtis, were staying there with their mother that summer during World War II. His dad was in the Panama Canal zone working with heavy equipment to widen the canal. We had a great time driving everyone batty with our energy and noise. They let us clean out a chicken coop for a club house and we actually did a pretty good job for a 10—and 11-year-old. We even painted it unintentionally. We had made about ten bottles of ink from inkberry bushes. We gathered the bottles from the dump, mostly medicine bottles, filled them with inkberry juice and capped them tightly. Later when we visited again, I asked Will if he had been up to the clubhouse. He said No so we went up. The whole inside was covered in purple polka dots. Grandma, Grandpa, Willis’ mom (Aunt Bessie) and my mom got a big laugh. Apparently the ink had fermented and exploded.

Anyhow, to get rid of Willis and me, Aunt Bessie would take us to Zook’s Dam to fish. Amazingly, at our young age, she left us there and picked us up late afternoon. We had our sticks with stringed hooks, plus worms. We not only didn’t drown or get in any trouble, but sat in boats that were tied up and proceeded to catch a batch of really nice bluegills. Aunt Bessie came back on time and was very surprised with our catch. She not only praised us but cleaned and fried the fish. It fed us, and our grandparents and Irving. (Curt was a baby then.) It was the first time I ate fish and really enjoyed it.

That was the real start to my addiction to fishing. We never got back to the dam for years, however. Later the dam was breeched and it dried up except for Licking Creek, which fed it, and a small lily pad pond.

CHAPTER TWO—JESS

As I reached my pre-teen and early teen years, we were allowed to go a little farther from home, with much begging and pleading to our parents. Before that, when we got caught, my Mom’s favorite punishment of choice was her potstick, a wooden paddle about two feet long. She didn’t have to use it much because we had lots to do near home.

Goss’ Dam, located on Jack’s Creek, was the nearest place to swim in those days. Many families would go there—no beach, no lifeguards, cold water—but we loved it. The family that lived there had a little store like a concession stand when they had enough customers. People would go there and have picnic lunches and spend the day. It was only 2-3 miles away, but we drove the old Model T. Later we moved a bit farther into town and my new friend Jess and I walked there often, never thinking about how far it was.

That was when we both started fishing a bit more seriously. It started with sticks and string with real hooks. Soon we had telescope rods and casting reels, when we could afford them—or hand-me-downs. The equipment ballooned out of control after we got older and began to earn money, but that’s another story, and one many fishermen and hunters have experienced.

There was a man who lived near there who fished the dam and often talked to us. He had a crippled arm from WWII and he’d made a holster for the rod to fit in mounted on his belt. He had the first spinning rod I ever saw and we were fascinated by it. I don’t remember if monofilament line was made then or not, but it was about that time.

Anyhow, we occasionally caught some rock bass and other pan fish—enough to whet our appetite but not enough to cook any—yet. On our way home we’d often take a short cut through fields. Several times we’d harvest some potatoes and eat them raw. After all, we’d been away since early morning and of course didn’t pack a lunch. One time there was a rotting carcass of a cow in the field. I lost my appetite soon that day, but Jess had to sink a couple arrows into it with his homemade bow and arrows. Sometimes I wondered about him.

My new friend Jess and I just had to try all the fishing we could get to. We pestered our parents and Jess’ Dad often took us, as well as my parents. Old Jess often fished with us, and usually had some sunshine beer with him or muscatel wine. Oddly it didn’t seem to affect his driving, although he might have gone a little slower. I never saw the ’37 Plymouth weave, nor did he make any stupid decisions. Thank God! Only once were we concerned.

That time we were on the Juniata River in the summer time and young Jess and I had gone about a mile downstream, when a hard thunderstorm struck. We went to the highway and trudged back to the car. No Jess Sr. Jess Jr. said, I bet he had a bottle hid in the car, so we went to the river and thankfully, old Jess was sitting on a rock with his two rods propped on sticks, still fishing and watching his rods closely when we came to him. Jess Jr. said, Jess, (he called his dad by that) what are you doing? It was still pouring hard! Jess Sr. turned to us and said, with his eyes like two black marbles, I’m fishing, what the H—do you think I’m doing? As if the sun was shining and the birds were tweeting.

Well, we gave him several hours more to fish, and when we went home, he drove a bit slower, but safely.

Often we’d go fishing for suckers and catfish in the winter, and another older bachelor would go along too. He didn’t drive, but he was a good cook and would usually bring some goodies along. Jess and I seldom brought food, but we didn’t have any qualms about eating his, especially if he had baked a pie or a cake.

Fat, his nickname aptly, would usually bring a jug of gasoline along to start a fire with, both to keep warm and to see when fishing at night. He loved to throw the remainder of the gas in the fire when Jess and I were half asleep, then yell and warn us so we’d be fifty feet or more away when it blew up. The flame would shoot twenty-five or more feet high. Try running half asleep, along the river in the dark.

One winter night, Fat caught and kept several walleyes, which they called Susquehanna salmon then. I had never seen one before and didn’t know if it was legal or not, but it didn’t matter to Fat.

We also burned old tires and they’d make a smoky stinky mess and we’d choke on the fumes. So, if we had time before dark, Jess and I would hunt up a nice pile of firewood if it was dry enough. Once we got some pieces of old railroad ties, which stunk as bad as the tires.

Even though Fat made good money at the steel mill and lived with his sister, he went through money like it was water. Jess and I saved every penny we could, gathered pop bottles for the deposit money and even did some odd jobs, plus our small allowances from our folks. Often, Fat would be broke before payday and we could get some great buys on his fishing equipment. Once I got a pair of Wonder Rods for $10.00 each. I saved hard and long to get them. I already had a pair of Pflueger casting reels.

My Dad and Mom would usually eat any fish I got: suckers, catfish, whatever. Later, when we caught so many big fall fish in Tuscarora creek, Dad said no more of them.

One bitter cold January, I was 14 or