Fishing in the Yellow River

FISHING IN THE YELLOW RIVER.

All four of my grandparents died before my birth. However, my maternal grandmother {Elizabeth Ann Mask Dick (1845 - 7-3-1921)} lived into old age and died only a few years before my birth.

My mother told me a few stories about how hard her widowed mother worked to provide for her eight children after their father's untimely death when Mama was only 18 months old and her mother was pregnant with 8th child, a son, Irvin Dick. (Charles Dick, her father had gone hunting on Christmas afternoon. His "bad cold" turned into influenza and death in 1887 ). Elizabeth Mask Dick never remarried. She and her children lived in a house on the large farm land of her father Rev. Bogan Mask (10-27-1821 - 8-28-1898).

My sister Vera told me about Grandma Dick, in her old age, visiting on occasion and how much Grandma loved fishing. Grandma would tell Vera and Mary to be good and help Mama with the housework and kitchen chores and she would take them fishing after dinner.

Vera told how she and Mary would do as Grandma asked and help get all the household chores done. To quote Vera, "As soon as we cleaned up after dinner, Grandma would turn to Mama and say, 'Eula, I believe I will take the girls down to the river. They want to go fishing so bad!'" Vera added, “Grandma sure liked to fish."

Mama sure liked to fish, also! Perhaps she learned the secret of catching fish from her mother. Mama usually came home with a long string of fish. We either cooked the fish she caught or gave them to others to cook.

Many afternoons, when the weather permitted, Mama (Ieula Ann Dick Baird 3-6-1885 - 12-6-1973) would finish up the housework; and she and a neighbor, Mrs. Parnell, would head for the Yellow River with Mamie (Mrs. Parnell's daughter) and me in tow. Mamie and I sometimes fished, but more often, we just explored the woods, picked wild flowers or dug worms. We had learned to talk quietly so as not to " scare away the fish."

I never missed an opportunity to go with Mama on one of these fishing expeditions. (The photo to the left is the Yellow River dam at Milstead near Georgia Hwy 20 in Rockdate County)

My husband Charles Shaw told me stories about growing up swimming in that area of the river 16 miles by road travel from where my mother was fishing in the same yellow River in Porterdale Georgia) .

There was one problem with me going fishing with Mama, Mrs. Parnell and Mamie in the Yellow River? Poison Oak? Among the lush vegetation near the Yellow River bank where my mother and Mamie's mother fished was an abundance of poison oak. I had long since learned not to touch the "three leaf " poison plant.

Have you heard the lines:

"Leaves of three...Let it be!

.Leaves of five...Let it thrive!"

Although I avoided the plants touching my skin, wore long sleeved shirts and overalls and came home to bathe in Clorox water, I often broke out into a painful, itchy rash from being in the vicinity of the poison plant.

In Loving memory of Charles Shaw 5-21-19-12--3-86

Today would have been my husband, Charles Columbus Shaw 93rd birthday. I thought it might be a good way to honor Charles today by following the lead of my daughter Joan , (Daddy's Roses ) , Joan helped me set up the Ruthlace Blog moniker back in 2005 and is the family expert in all thing English and Spanish. Recently on Daddys' Roses, she wrote a great post , citing 13 differences in her and her DH. (Darling Husband). In honor of my DH, here are mine:

1…. Movies. Charles loved movies, especially the old cowboy movies. I am not much of a movie fan. I have seen probably less than a half a dozen in a theater in the last 26 years and not many more on Television.

2.... Seafood. Charles and I both liked sea food. We both grew up eating fish caught fresh from the Yellow River.

3.... Sunday School. Like many pastors, he was not a regular in one Sunday School Class. I enjoyed very much being a part of a Sunday School Class from childhood on and have taught classes in all the churches where DH was pastor.

4.... Pets. Neither of us had much time for pets. We did have Hercules, a chihuahua when the children were small and later a German Shepherd who "followed David home" from school. David named the big dog "Rex" (the name of his Dad's childhood dog) as soon as they arrived home. Rex loved to swim in the large lake in the neighborhood in East Point. He was David's dog.

5.... Vacation Spots. We both enjoyed camping and family gatherings. Charles also loved fishing and hunting and once caught an 18 inch Brown Trout in an Ellijay mountain stream much to the delight of our children and some of the neighbor children who were splashing in the water. He had the fish mounted by Rev. Bob Cagle, who had answered the call to preach as a teen ager during Charles ministry in Ellijay.

6.... Temperature. I am the one who now wears long sleeves even in the Summer. This may be an old age thing. I do not remember either one of us complaining about the house temperature.

7.... Time of Day. He was a night owl; I am an early bird. When he was in Seminary at Candler, he would stay up all night writing papers or studying for an exam. On the other hand, I went to Seminary after his death and would go to bed early and get up at 4 to write any paper that required creativity.

8.... Food. We both enjoyed a dinner of fresh turnip greens and cornbread with a glass of buttermilk as a complete meal after all our children were out of the nest. A meal with dried beans cooked from scratch as the main course was also a welcomed meal to both of us. We failed in passing along the love of fresh greens and those wonderful dried beans protein source to our children?

9.... Family of Origin. I am the youngest of nine and the only one still living. Charles was the oldest of five boys. The last of his four brothers died in January of this year at age 85. My father died when I was 9 but Charles and I both had strong family ties with parents and siblings.

10.... TV Shows. He enjoyed the old cowboy and war movies or shows like Gunsmoke and M.A.S.H. I prefer a situation comedy like Designing Women or Matlock. In recent years, I have lost interest in most of the TV offerings.

11.... Health. He had serious hearing and ear problem from World War II experiences. His first heart attack and by -pass surgery was at age 59 and his final one at age 67. Most of my health issues, except for painful TriGeminal neuralgia episodes from 1990 on have been after age 82.

12.... Religion. Both of us very serious, some might say "overly serious" Christians.

13.... Blog. I enjoy all forms of writing and still write as I live! I doubt that he would have gotten into blogging as he left much of the family writing (Christmas letters etc.) up to me. He was an outgoing and charismatic extrovert. I am more introverted. He would sometimes have me edit pastoral reports and letters while he made sick calls. However he read widely books of Theology and the Bible , was good in New Testament Greek and was gifted in Biblical preaching.

Childhood Cancer Research

Every school day in America, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer, the #1 disease killer of children ages 0-15.

When my great-granddaughter, Lily, was in second grade, she began experiencing excruciating back pain. After three trips to the ER and many visits to the pediatrician, Lily was diagnosed with leukemia (Pre-B ALL) on December 1, 2008.

In February 2011, she completed over two years of treatment - including daily chemo. It has been a long road and one that has had its ups and downs. During treatment she was hospitalized numerous times for treatment and infections. She has also been diagnosed with AVN, or bone death, one of the side-effects of the high dose steroids that are part of the protocol for treatment. She missed an entire year of school, but she's now in fifth grade and able to attend school full time again.

Lily is dedicated to raising money to support childhood cancer research because, as she says, "no kid should have to be sick like this." Her long-range goal is to raise a million dollars for childhood cancer research. Picture of Lily and Sophie modeling in a recent Fund Raising Event for Childhood Cancer Research

Lily likes acting, swimming and dancing. She also likes riding horses and playing with her three dogs, Rosie, Bogey and Yogi. She has a younger sister, Sophie, who has been a big support during her treatment. They are truly best friends.