Slim Randles' Home Country

Earrings with a catch

[March 19, 2011]  Both Marvin Pincus and Dewey Decker joined us for coffee this morning at the daily gathering of the world dilemma think tank at the Mule Barn truck stop. It was an honor for us, as these two were very busy entrepreneurs: Dewey as chief executive officer of "Environmental Enrichment Services" (he supplies cow manure to local gardens) and Marvin as proprietor of the Fly Tying Love Center, where his advice and the tying of an appropriate fly hopefully send his clients happily into relationship bliss.

Dewey was one of Marvin's success stories, Marvin having tied up a lead-wire-wrapped woolly bugger for him and advised Dewey to ask a woman for a date after showering.

"So how's the love advice biz, Marvin?" Doc asked.

"Slow, Doc. Everyone seems to be pretty happy right now. Cold weather doesn't help me much. They all kinda scrunch together to stay warm."

"Marvin's tying fly earrings now, you know," Steve put in.

"Hey, that's right," Doc said. "My wife got some. They're really pretty, Marvin. How's that going?"

"Better than the love advice part of it, that's for sure. These women are sure funny when it comes to flies. You'd think they'd like the kind of flies we use around here. Adams, black gnat, mosquito, muddler minnow, stuff like that."

"They don't?" Steve asked.

"Nope. They want salmon streamers. The gaudier the better. I've had to learn to tie Silver Doctors and Parmachene Belles and buy turquoise feathers and a bunch of gold and silver wire to wrap on them."

"They're sure pretty, though," said Doc.

"Well, yes. But my biggie right now is a stone fly nymph on a No. 4. Women wear those with plain black evening dresses."

"The big question is," smirked Steve, taking a sip of coffee, "do they work?"

"Of course they do!" Doc said. "The other day my missus was wearing hers when she went by the pond at the library, and she came home with a 6-inch rainbow trout hanging from each ear."

[Text from file received from Slim Randles]

Brought to you by "Sweetgrass Mornings," a collection of outdoor memories, at www.slimrandles.com.