Have yourself a walleye, littlle Christmas!

[aerialbridge]

It came upon a midnight clear. God rest ye merry fishermen. Tidings of comfort and joy. Merry Christmas to all!

 

https://thefishoc.com/content/christmas/

 

[mikie]

Hey, those are neat. I spent countless hours in my younger days ice fishing for walleye on Oneida Lake near Rome in Upstate New York. I loved it at the time, spending all day winter Saturdays and Sundays on a frozen lake in often subzero temperatures. Can't imagine myself doing that today.

 

Thanks, and Merry Christmas!

 

Mikie

[Kurt Barickman]

Fondly remembering your past Christmases in sunny, polar southern MN?

 

Kurt

[aerialbridge]

Merry Christmas, Mikie! Your blood must have thinned out, is why camping out on the ice all night in the dead of winter to fish for Walleye no longer holds the same "a-lure" as in days of yore. It's interesting about Oneida, there are a lot of places called Oneida in Wisconsin after much of the tribe was relocated there from New York. My grampa, the sailor in my avatar, fried up the best Walleye I ever ate, and also pickled it-- better than any pickled herring. Speaking of pickled, his choke cherry wine and jam was amazing. Yes, Kurt, fond memories of my early years on the Minnesota tundra. Even if I could find some decent lutefisk with mashed "padadahs" out here, it wouldn't taste the same without the 15 foot snowdrifts.

[mikie]

The Oneida tribe was originally from the western end of the Mohawk Valley in the Rome- Utica area. They got a bum deal after the Revolution. They were kicked out of New York despite being loyal to the American cause and materially helping win the war.

 

The great thing about the San Francisco Bay area is that when we want snow, we jump in the car and drive for 3 or 4 hours, jump around in it, then head on home. No shovelling the driveway only to have the snow plow drive by and dump that 15 Foot snowdrift right at the end of it. Ah, those were the days...

 

By the way, pretty neat finding those medals with the interesting names.

 

Mikie

[aerialbridge]

We could write a book about the bum deals, actually there have been a few written. You're right about the nearness to the snow, when we want it in CA. Snow on demand. BTW, my father was at Griffiss in Rome for a year or two in the 50s. Actually the medal was posted by someone else in a post just before mine. The first name was "Walley", but it was crying out for another "E".

[mikie]

Ok, more memories...the house I grew up in during the very late 50s through the early 80s was just outside of Utica. We were just off the flight path for the B-52s at Griffiss. I used to love seeing those big beautiful birds fly by. Griffiss was supposedly really high on the Russian hit list and that if the missiles started flying, hiding under a desk probably wouldn't help much.

 

Mikie

[aerialbridge]

Ok, more memories...the house I grew up in during the very late 50s through the early 80s was just outside of Utica. We were just off the flight path for the B-52s at Griffiss. I used to love seeing those big beautiful birds fly by. Griffiss was supposedly really high on the Russian hit list and that if the missiles started flying, hiding under a desk probably wouldn't help much.

 

Mikie

 

I went to elementary and junior high in D.C., so definitely in the fallout range if not the hit list. Exciting times. I'll take our school driils for Soviet ICBMs in the 50s and 60s over the drills the kids have for today's bogeymen.