Positioned on the Taunton River in southeastern Mass., the Weetamoe Yacht Membership had just one yacht and a fleet of small wood skiffs owned by rugged blue-collar watermen. It was the place the creator realized about fishing, boating, and incomes a residing in a world the place nothing got here straightforward.
With out a hint of smoke from the brick chimney on that frigid December morning and never a single acquainted car on the prime of the staircase resulting in the shore, there was little promise of a heat welcome on the membership. I virtually turned away and headed to the consolation of the diner, however determined that since I used to be there, I’d at the very least attempt the door.
The door opened into the chilly entry between the kitchen and the upstairs studying room, and I known as out, to no avail. Climbing the steps, I heard a noise that I recognized as loud night breathing. Once I reached the touchdown, I noticed Bento wrapped in one of many thick olive-drab shifting blankets the oldtimers used for comforters, solely his face seen and loud night breathing up a storm. His nostril and lips had been a bluish tint, so I hunted across the wooden field, however discovered only some splinters. We would have liked wooden to chase the coolness and dampness from the room the place the odor of musty books and mildew crammed my nostrils. The adjoining shores often supplied us with a wealth of hot-burning driftwood, however there have been 4 different boathouses in shut proximity competing for gasoline, so my earlier two forays had solely produced sufficient wooden to heat these sitting near the range. Very rigorously, I woke the old-timer. He awoke slowly, shivering, as an consciousness of his circumstances took maintain.
“What time is it, boy?” The rusted wall clock learn 6:45 a.m. on that Saturday morning. “Rattling, I fell asleep. I ran out of kerosene at house and thought certainly one of my mates could be right here beside a roaring hearth, however they’ve wives, households, and heat flats. We’d like some sizzling espresso, however I don’t have a nickel to my identify till Monday afternoon when my verify arrives.”
The outdated noticed about being so poor as to not have two nickels to rub collectively got here to thoughts. The outdated man and I had been each broke! I assumed concerning the aroma of bacon, eggs, and residential fries on the grill on the Bridge Diner and hoped that Cynthia is perhaps working. I informed my outdated good friend to remain put and I’d be again with espresso and meals.
I ran out the door, and headed for the steep banking alongside the bridge that led to the diner. Cynthia was sitting on the final stool dealing with the window, an unfiltered Fortunate Strike hanging from her decrease lip as she gazed out on the calm waters of the Taunton River. The stout waitress with the million-dollar smile greeted me in her normal pleasant method and requested if I had an order for her. As quickly as I defined my errand of mercy, she floor out her cigarette and put her arm round my shoulder.
“Russ [the owner] likes you, so he received’t have an issue with me extending you credit score and including a sizzling chocolate and donut.” I sat on the counter because the short-order prepare dinner grilled the bacon and egg for the toasted sandwich whereas Cynthia poured the drinks.
“Haven’t seen you round shortly, however I notice the members have hauled out their boats and never lots of them go to the membership throughout colder climate. You inform that old-timer the parents on the Bridge Diner would by no means let a person starve or go with out.”
There was a spring in my step as I headed again to the membership with life-sustaining nourishment for my outdated good friend. That outdated man was particular—he had given me my first first rate crab web and helped me sand and paint the oars the membership’s caretaker had given me for Christmas just a few years in the past. His eyes lit up when he noticed the brown paper bag in my hand. The meals and sizzling drinks led to a dialogue that dwelled on Christmas, which was lower than two weeks away, and our dire monetary straits. The outdated man’s shade was returning, so I informed him that with none wooden for the fireplace, and none to be discovered on our shore, I used to be going to launch the small plywood skiff sitting outdoors and row throughout the river to gather driftwood on the alternative shore, however Bento nixed that concept.
“Maintain on, boy. There isn’t anybody round or on the river, so should you get into hassle on the way in which over or again, you’d be out of luck. We will do with no hearth.” He was the voice of motive, however I used to be a bulletproof teenage boy with out his expertise or understanding of the potential hazard. I went into the locker room and picked up the pair of oars left unlocked for emergencies. I flipped the sunshine dingy over and dragged it to the shoreline, the place I locked the oars in place and pushed off the seaside. It was useless chilly however calm as I cleared the breakwater and rowed my approach out towards the channel of the abandoned river. That gentle little skiff might skate, however she was tippy, and all the load needed to be useless middle over the keel. The tide was low and incoming because the bow scuffed the gravel seaside underneath the overgrown banking on the far facet of the river. I slipped the oars, hauled the skiff up onto dry land, and commenced the hunt for firewood.
The rocky Somerset shore, not like the city facet of the river the place the membership was positioned, was seldom explored by foot visitors and solely sometimes by clam diggers who arrived by boat. As quickly as I secured the skiff, I noticed driftwood piled up towards the high-tide wrack line and up within the bushes the place the wind and waves had scattered it. A lot of that wooden was too massive to place into the little boat, so I focused on the largest and driest stove-sized items I might stuff within the boat. They’d simply gasoline a heat hearth for my outdated good friend who was sitting in a room that felt extra like a meat locker.
I crammed the wooden into each open area, leaving simply sufficient room for me to board and row again throughout the river. As soon as I pushed off the shore, I observed I had however just a few inches of freeboard, so I prayed no boat tossing a giant wake would make its approach upriver or I’d be swamped. As I approached the membership, I heard a voice calling out to me. It was Arthur, a retired dockworker who was ready on the shore to assist me seaside the skiff and offload the wooden. We piled the primary load on a heavy piece of canvas and dragged it up the steps, he on the head and me greedy the rear of our makeshift wooden service. Our previously frigid good friend, warmed by his sizzling espresso and sandwich, seemed on approvingly as Arthur started rolling up newspaper whereas I used the sharp camp axe from his locker to chip away shavings to make kindling. Briefly order, we had a roaring hearth within the potbellied range and I pushed Bento’s chair shut sufficient that he complained about his beard being singed.
“He have to be warming up as a result of he’s again to complaining,” mentioned Arthur. We sat across the glowing range whereas a black kettle spit water, discussing our prospects for the upcoming Christmas vacation.
Not solely was I broke, I used to be additionally in debt to the diner. Nonetheless, by the next weekend, I had collected two {dollars} from odd jobs and operating errands for the carpenters at Clarkson’s Boat home. I walked into the diner and was greeted by Cynthia with a hug and a giant, moist kiss. She smelled of fragrance and brandy as she and some prospects on the finish of the counter had been getting a head begin on the vacation. “You’ve been laying low, haven’t you?”
I tried to clarify that I needed to earn the cash to pay her, which led to a compassionate response. She beamed that beautiful smile and informed me that Bento got here in just a few days after that, paid the tab, and insisted she settle for a greenback tip.
“Don’t you ever keep away from right here due to cash. I’ve received one thing for you from the boss. Some man got here in just a few months again and traded him this rod, reel and field of sinkers and hooks for a meal and to erase his IOU. He needs you to have it.” It was an almost new Ocean Metropolis reel with new linen line on a brand-new Montague rod. There was additionally a bag of sinkers, hooks, and a brand new spool of Ashaway Dacron line. It was Christmas come early, however Cynthia wouldn’t let me go with no sizzling chocolate, a scrumptious jelly donut, and one other moist brandy smooch.
I sat in one of many cubicles, sipping my drink and savoring my donut. Since Mother had warned by no means to stroll right into a room with meals, drink, or sweet except you had sufficient to share, it was a warning properly taken as I ate my reward earlier than heading to the membership.
There have been a number of members’ automobiles parked on the prime of the road as I headed down the steps to the membership the place smoke billowed from the chimney. I walked upstairs and poked my head across the nook, when Bento noticed me and yelled for me to return over. The boys had been sitting across the woodstove, sipping from bowls of sizzling chowder and consuming crusty Italian meatball sandwiches. Bento put his arm round me, seemed me within the eye, and mentioned, “Boy there isn’t a such factor as a nasty Christmas…not when we’ve got considerate mates and each other.” He despatched me to the kitchen, the place the caretaker dipped the ladle into the pot and served me a bowl of chowder earlier than stuffing three massive meatballs right into a torpedo roll. “Cease by the kitchen on the way in which house and I’ll put some collectively in your mother.”
Life was good. We sat within the heat of the kitchen, consuming a easy meal, every deep in thought concerning the significance of the approaching vacation. I used to be grateful for what I had and never what I needed. Like my good friend Bento, I’ve by no means had a nasty Christmas. My household by no means begrudged me for refusing a high-paying job and selecting as an alternative to scratch a residing as a fisherman, information, creator and lecturer. The one disappointments I ever skilled on Christmas had been from being unable to offer my household with what they deserved slightly than solely what we might afford.
God bless you and yours, and will the spirit of Christmas and charity ceaselessly dwell in your hearts.
You’ll be able to want Charley Soares a Merry Christmas at linesiders2000@yahoo.com
Associated Content material
1964 | The Yr of the Striper
A Christmas Tree for Henry
The First 80-Pound Striper on Rod-and-Reel
