This is my new painting called "Summer Parking Spot". About this time every year I start getting a little tired of winter. I'm ready to get out on the water and do some fishing! My brother and I love to catch catfish and we make it kind of a family get together when we go. If we decide to go fishing on a lake I'll have my daughter (when she's not working) come out with my 5 year old granddaughter. My brother Kent will usually bring his 3 kids along with Lemmy (My brother's Jack Russel terrier). Sometimes our mother who's in her 70's enjoys some fishing as well and last time she went she caught more channel catfish than I did! Our father set up a real love of fishing when he brought us up along with a love for the outdoors. I remember summer nights on the river and creek banks of Kansas beside the glow of a lantern and looking out at our fishing lines disappearing into the darkness. Just sitting there and discussing life with our Dad and asking him endless questions about things until the conversation was broken with a sudden jerk on somebodies fishing pole. You don't get that kind of bonding too much any more because everyone seems to have their heads buried in their cell phone. Our Dad died a few years ago so my brother and I are trying our best to carry on the outdoor tradition! I also remember when we would take the boat out setting bank lines on Cross Creek which flows into the Kansas River. Sometimes we wouldn't make it back until after it got dark and our Dad would have us hold the lantern at the front of the boat so he could see to get back. One night we could here the beaver in the dark slapping the water with their tails beside the boat. It really freaks you out the first time it happens in the dark!
Whenever one of our great fishing trips was over it was time for our Old man to take us to VanVleck's filling station in Rossville where we lived. It was a small gas station with snacks and about 5 chairs so all the old men of the town could sit there and tell stories to each other. My old man was an instigator. He like to mess with the other old men and get them all worked up. The gas station was a great reward for our fishing efforts because we got to sit and listen to the old men talk trash on one another while we drank our Dr. Pepper and ate a "Hot Momma" sausage and a bag of "guys" tasty mix! I remember one of the old men telling my Dad about a big fish that he caught. My Dad looked at him and said "Sh-----t, I use fish that size for bait!" Our old man was no stranger to using a cuss word or two when he wanted to assert his fishing dominance over a rival old man!!! I sure do miss those times in the little town of Rossville! My Dad's name was Kent but everyone in Rossville called him "Catfish" because he caught the big ones! He had a bumper sticker on his old Chevy Truck that said "Fish tremble at the mention of my name".
If you'd like to order this print here's the link. If you'd like to purchase the original just email me through the website. Thanks for reading the blog and reminiscing with me! PAINE OUT!