Eclectic, quirky, and sometimes edgy…this is how things look from my front porch.




Saturday, June 16, 2012

Fishing in Edenton, North Carolima

I drove to Edenton, North Carolina on Thursday, not so very far from me. It was a cloudy day, or "a dull day" as Queen Victoria would carefully record in her diary, when she accounted for sunless weather in the Scottish Highlands.  My day was anything but dull, with an interesting glow behind the clouds and the Chowan River a particular gray shade like black pearls.

Edenton is a little jewel of a town, with a monument to Dr. Hughes, signer of the Declaration of Independence and friend of John Paul Jones as well as another monument to James Iredell, one of the first Supreme Court Justices. A town which raised two founding fathers of the United States is a wonderful place indeed.

However, I was just as pleased to make the acquaintance of Kahleel and his friends who were fishing from the Edenton Pier.  I walked down the pier, thinking to just nod and say "good morning" when Kahleel looked at me with a proud smile.  Kahleel is on the left in the pic, his buddies were much more shy and didn't give me their names.

"We caught some fish..."  There was a question at the end of his sentence, where his voice raised a little uncertainly.  Would I care that they caught some fish?  I did care.

"Can I see?"

We squatted down for some serious inspection as he pulled the red top off the cooler to show an impressive catch.

"What kind of fish are they?"

"Regular perch and raccoon perch...see the stripes, that's why they called raccoon."

"Do you guys eat them?"

"They's good eatin', we gut 'em, and fry 'em up in cornmeal,."

"What do you use for bait?"

"Whatever dey is.  We just ran out, called Grandma, and she brought some worms.

She must really love him.

Justice James Iredell said this:


For my part, I am free and ready enough to declare that I think the Christian religion is a Divine institution; and I pray to God that I may never forget the precepts of His religion or suffer the appearance of an inconsistency in my principles and practice.
James Iredell, Essay on religion, 1768