Heed Not Thy Vexation

Rodney and Dubby Kehle were a great new find in the friend quarry. Both are cancer survivors. In fact, there existed an entire string of us on the river view sites that had overcome the “Big C’.  We nicknamed our conglomeration of sites….. Cancer Row. Dubby is a breast cancer survivor recently. Rod’s case was more a freak of happenstance. While imbibing a bit too much one evening in their new fifth wheel Rod fell down the bedroom steps and cracked some ribs. A trip to the hospital was in store. X rays proved more than a rib problem. He was informed he had kidney cancer. He told me he loved that fifth wheel. Had he not fallen on those steps, he would now be a dead man. Vex not they spirit at the course of things, they heed not thy vexation. How ludicrous and outlandish is astonishment at anything that may happen in life. But I digress, so on to less morbidity. They made sure that we planned nothing for their last evening here. Rodney was planning a big fish fry as he had just brought in some fresh shrimp and flounder. It didn’t turn out to be just some but pounds and pounds of it. While Rodney fried we chatted. I learned a great deal about the life of a commercial shrimp boat captain. The days and nights away from home, often as many as a week and a half, the perils they faced and how they actually caught their prey was extremely intriguing. Oftentimes, the catch of the week may turn from shrimp to that of sharks. Rod told me that he had the fortune of landing at least three Great White’s in his life. Setting and baiting hundreds of hooks and then letting them lie through the night until the morning haul was pulled in by a winch brought “The Deadliest Catch” to life for me. I asked about the reason for the pursuit of shark and was informed it was economic reasoning behind that quest. The fins of the shark were sold and shipped to Japan, Their they are a delicacy. The remaining white meat was purchased by MacDonalds. Yep, that’s right. You fish fillet there is just that. And who knew. I guess unknowingly I have been a connoseur of shark. Rodney breaded and fried more shrimp and flounder than we could handle that night. Dub complimented the chef with her homemade hush puppies fried on the spot along with her own special cole slaw. We ate so much we hurt. Topping off their hospitality, they offered their ten acre plot for us to park the RV, free of charge, when in the Savannah area. They were insistent that we stay there, noting that they provided hook-ups along with the free site. We couldn’t have met more gracious and giving people. I consider myself extremely blessed as my life has been ladened with gifts too numerous to note over the decades. However, the greatest of these are the people with which we have intereacted and taken the time to really know. I’m sure we’ll stop on our way through Georgia, not for the RV site, but for the camaraderie and to engage great friends once again. Thank you Rod and Dubby.