Herkimer, The Fish We Left Behind

The summer after kindergarten and before first grade my family moved from Naples, Florida to Dickson, Tennessee. It wasn’t long after the move that I remember hearing stories about Herkimer, the fish we left behind. I don’t really remember much about Herkimer. I’m not even sure that I ever actually saw him myself, but I do remember his funny name and the laughter that always filled the room when Mom and Dad talked about him.

A few years ago I asked Mom to tell me more about Herkimer, our “pet” fish that had “lived” in the deep freeze. I wanted to know what happened to him when we moved to Dickson. In my mind, I had always figured Herkimer to be a large fish waiting to be taken to the taxidermist for mounting– waiting to fulfill every fishes dream of becoming wall art. I always knew that Herkimer would have been breathtaking on any living room wall. 1 1/2 feet of snook perfection arched in a graceful curve. Little did I know Herkimer was never destined to hang above anyone’s couch or mantle. His residency in our deep freeze was the result of something else entirely. Herkimer was just a fish who never made it to the frying pan. Dad didn’t have time to clean him when he got home from his fishing trip so he put him in the freezer so that he could get him out later. Later turned into years and Herkimer just became part of the family. Mom got used to moving him out of the way when she needed something out of the deep freeze, and Dad gave him a name. When we moved to Tennessee, there was actually a conversation about what to do with Herkimer and my parents may have even considered bringing him to Tennessee. He was left in Florida, but he is still part of my life. To me Herkimer is a symbol of the love my mom must have had for my dad. I think about how easy it would have been for her to get mad at him for leaving that nasty fish in her deep freeze. I wonder how many times she thought about cursing him for leaving it in her deep freeze. Instead, she chose to laugh. Because she chose to laugh, my brother and I have this funny story to tell about Herkimer, the fish we left behind.

Newborn Thomas

 

I finally took the time to figure out how to get pictures from my video camera to my computer, and I discovered this cool little tool that allows me to stop the video and make a still picture whenever I want to. This photo comes from a video that Tobi took while we were still in the delivery room.

Ready to Go Home!

They came in this morning at about seven and took Thomas to the nursery to prepare for his circumcision. It is 9:40 now and I am still waiting for him to get back. Bill is still sleeping on the pull out coach next to me, and I’m beginning to get a little restless. I’m ready to go home. I don’t know how long it will be after he gets back in here before we will get discharged. I’m looking forward to seeing Tobi and Will though and being at home with the whole family.

Mommy’s Helper Learns a New Skill

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This afternoon I sat down to relax and sew some squares together on the mitered baby blanket. Will came in and asked if I would show him how to do it. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to show him, but figured he wouldn’t spend much time on it. I was wrong. He picked it right up and went to work. So, I started sewing two more together. We took a break to make dinner and then after eating he picked it up again. We sat and sewed squares together. Now we have it in 3 sections and Will is working on putting two of those together already.

Mommy’s Little Helper

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I stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies for an in-service I am leading next week. While I was there, I decided to use a gift card. So, I came home with a cute little travel swing for the baby. Of course, Will couldn’t wait to help me put it together. It was so cute. When we finished, he stood up and said, “I can’t wait to have a baby brother … or sister.”

Baby Update

Good news. I’ve been doing so well on my diet that the doctor says there is no need to induce early. I’m still only dilated to 1 centimeter and he says my measurements are great. He said that he might induce on the 21st just because we live so far away from the hospital, but we will talk about that next week.

One Centimeter

I guess we are getting closer and closer to special delivery time. I went to Dr. Carter yesterday and found out that I will be seeing him once a week. I also found out that I am dilated to 1 centimeter. I’m going to see my diabetes doctor today. They will do an ultrasound and measure the baby. I’m anxious to see how big it has gotten since the last measurement. Maybe I’ll have pictures to post when I get home.

Nursery Painting Time

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Now that school is out, I figured it was time to decide on a color for the nursery walls and get busy putting the nursery together. Slowly but surely, I’m getting it done. Believe it or not, this is what the room looked like this morning after two days. I’ll take another picture before I go to bed and share it tomorrow. The plan is to get it painted and get things moved in by Saturday. It will be nice to get my new glider rocker and the baby bed out of the living room. Right now I have a cute little 8 year old curled up in my lap. I think it is time for a bedtime story.

Week 24

I’ve been puzzled, perplexed and disappointed with my blogging for several months now. 24 weeks to be exact. I have let my blog slip away with only a few posts here and there for the last 24 weeks. Why haven’t I had anything to share? Why can’t I think of anything to say? Should I just quit trying? As I drove home from the grocery store yesterday, I found myself pondering these questions. The answer hit me right in the tummy. I realized that all my spare thinking time over the last 24 weeks, the time that had been devoted to thinking and philosophizing, has been overtaken by the baby kicking around inside me. I have spent all my alone time thinking about the little baby growing inside me and talking to her. So, will I write more now that I have made this discovery? I’m not sure. I think I may be ready to share my thoughts about this little miracle, but then again I might not be. I guess we will see.

A Day at the Frist

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The kids and I spent a day at the Frist Center in Nashville last month. I’m just now getting around to blogging about it. Here you can see Will working on his sculpting abilities.

And here he is posing with his creation. Tobi took her friend Ellen with her. They spent most of the day trying to avoid being with Will and I, so I didn’t get any pictures of her while we were in the museum. We did stop long enough to get this picture as we were leaving. It was a great day even if it was way too crowded to leisurely enjoy the artwork from Monet to Dali. Will enjoyed all the fun art activities that they had planned for kids, and Tobi enjoyed spending the day with her friend Ellen. We met Beth and her niece Haley there, but it was so crowded it was difficult to really enjoy each other’s company. Even with the huge crowd, we enjoyed ourselves. I’m sure we will make another trip soon, but it won’t be on a Family Day.