We have had one of the most pleasant weeks for August that I can remember. It has almost felt like autumn outside. A lot of farmers have begun to fire their tobacco so I’m getting in that fall frame of mind. I think the smell of of tobacco being fired is becoming a special memory for Jenna too.
FELINE FAN. Ben has turned into a real cat lover. He loves our cat. Whenever he goes outside he grabs her and snuggles her really tight. Sometimes I see him running around the back yard, cat in hand. I have no idea if cats get dizzy, but she has ample opportunity. Lilly is very patient with Ben and seems to have claimed him as her person. The other morning we were leaving for the bus. Ben came out the door and naturally picked her up to say goodbye. As he brought the cat near his face she reached out and put her front paws on each of his cheeks. I wish I’d had my camera.
Lilly didn’t look so well to me after we found her in the fence row, but today she looks the picture of health. We first thought she’d have long hair, but we were wrong there. Her fur has shortened to a pretty black coat with white on her feet, face, and belly. Aunt Mar is please with her healthy glow.
NEW TALENT. Ben can whistle now, and he revels in his new talent. This really annoys Jenna because she whistles like a bird with pneumonia. Nate aspires to reach Ben’s level.
DINNER CRUISE. Back in the spring Vicki won a buy-one-get-one-free dinner cruise ticket for the General Jackson as a door prize. We had intended this to be our anniversary date back in June but could never find the time to book the cruise. We finally got around to it Friday night so it doubled as my birthday date. The weather couldn’t have been more pleasant. After casting off we enjoyed watching the scenery go by for a bit before they called us below for dinner. Before dessert was served we went back out on the deck to see the sights of downtown Nashville where the Titans were playing football and a concert was going on at Riverfront Park. Back in the dinner theater we enjoyed the NashVegas on the River show which featured Tina Turner, Elton John and Elvis Presley impersonators. It was a fun evening. The last time we sailed on the General Jackson was for our first anniversary.
MEMORIES OF THE GENERAL JACKSON. Some of you may not know that I was a deck hand on the original crew in 1985 when the General Jackson was brand new. That was probably the best summer job I ever had in spite of the long hours (I think we worked 6:30 am to 11:30 pm with a three hour break in the middle). It was really fun to walk around the boat and reminisce about that summer.
There were several of us from Cross Plains who worked on the boat: Steve Freeland, Cletus Fisher, Matt Wall, Jeff Woodfin. As deck hands on the crew we were responsible for whatever the captain needed. Our normal duties included docking and undocking, keeping a bow watch, watching the ends of the boat as the captain turned around, etc. We were also the first responders for any fires and medical emergencies (which never happened on my watches, though we drilled a lot).
Turning the General Jackson around in the Cumberland River was always an interesting maneuver. The river is on average 400 feet wide. The boat is 300 feet long. Neither the wheel house nor the two wing bridges offer the captain a clear view of the bow or stern. We would have to be stationed at either end calling distances to shore to the captain over squawk boxes. (They took the walkie-talkies away after Jeff dropped one of the $700 units in the river.)
There were two complete crews of us and I remember both captains very well. William Howell and Edgar Allen Poe (no kidding) were both very special men. They had known each other for years from their days as tow boat captains and had come to this job in semi-retirement. Captain Howell was very soft spoken while Captain Poe was louder and more of a cut up. What I found interesting was that their driving styles were so opposite of their personalities. Captain Howell, the quieter one, would be quicker to move the throttle to full than Captain Poe ever was when turning around or docking. Not that one was better than the other, just different.
I’ll never forget going up to the wheel house one night to talk to Captain Poe for a bit. We had just gone under the Silliman Evans Bridge heading upstream toward Opryland. Suddenly Captain Poe asked, “You know how to steer this boat?” I said I thought so and he quizzed me on a few things and then said, “Good, I’ve got to go to the head (bathroom),” and before I could reply he was gone. He had let me steer several times before, but this was the first time he had ever left the wheel house. I was alone up there for about 15 minutes. To this day I can say the General Jackson is the smallest self-propelled boat I have ever driven.
One time the Delta Queen came to Nashville. It is a true steam powered stern wheeler (the General Jackson is a diesel-electric). Captain Howell radioed their captain and lined up a tour for us on our break which was really interesting. That night as we approached downtown we blew our whistle at the Delta Queen and she returned the salute to us. Needless to say, our air powered whistle sounded very hollow compared to the steam powered one on the Delta Queen so she had the last word.
Joe
