Bedtime Stories - Bringing in the nets

Brucie was my grandfather. He always wore shorts, a shirt and braces. He never put his shoes on properly, just stepped on the back of them. Then he shuffled to keep them on. He would pull up in the ute, walk up to the door, open it and come straight in, traipsing mud where ever he went. He would call out Lucky, Lucky ... I've got a job for you. We'd all jump in the back of the ute and hold on for dear life. We usually had no idea where we were going or what we would be doing. Could be collecting prickly cactus pear, or back to The Ponds to go fishing, but this time we were checking the yabby nets.

He pulled up at a channel. We all poured out and started looking around. Looking here. Looking there. Finally, we headed back to the ute. Brucie, we can't find it, do you remember where you put it?
Must be around the corner, he'd say. We'd jump back in the ute, holding on for dear life, and off we'd go around the corner. Pull up, jump out, start looking. Looking here. Looking there. Brucie, are you sure it's here?
Must be around the corner, he'd say. Jump in, hold on, off we go again. Pull up, jump out, look here, look there. Brucie? Are you sure?

Sometimes we'd drive around all the channels in Ardmona looking for yabby nets. We'd get them all (or most of them) in the end, and Brucie would take them home, resisting our offers of helping him re-set them. In a few days he'd put them back in, forget where half of them were and off we'd go again. It was the best way to spend a Sunday morning!

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After I'd finished telling this story, as they were both killing themselves with laughter Euey commented: Brucie was a crazy crazy man Mum. He forgets as much as you. Even more!

Then as I walked out the door he called Lucky, Lucky - the tone was so exact it brought tears to my eyes. There's a lot of Simson in that boy.