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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Fishing at the Slough




The slough is a deep, long, spring fed pool running at least 600 feet at the base of a bluff before it feeds into the Bryant Creek near where we live in southern Missouri. It's banks are overgrown with cane and brush, but there are a few spots you can get through and throw in a line. Turtles live here, and fish and snakes, sometimes you might see a beaver or otter. It's savage and wild and mysterious. There are always weird noises that make you start, and the sound of water trickling down the bluff. Deer snort from the ridge top. Huge old sycamores sprouting moss, grass and mushrooms line the water. Yesterday when we fished, a woodchuck poked up out of his/her hole in the bank, assessed us, and, deciding we posed no threat, ambled out to get a bite to eat in the bottom field. We caught bluegills, sunfish and one bass. We ate some and I have a pot of fish stock (heads included) simmering on the stove. Another batch got cut up, mixed with salt, lemon rind, garlic, peppercorns water and whey and put into a jar to ferment for fish sauce. Now, this is a daunting activity for even the most stalwort meat eater. For me, a 30+ year vegetarian just now changing her diet, it was pretty major. But it's done, we're fed, and I've decided that if I'm going to eat meat, I need to participate in the whole process. Being a vegetarian is a kinder, gentler, easier, cheaper way to live, but for many reasons, the main one being health, I have decided to change. I have never questioned the rightness of animals being on the land. The interaction of plants, animals, humans and the stars makes a sacred circle. I struggle often with my part in that circle; I'm still working on it.