Phatwater on the Natchez Gauge today is at 28.5′.  I’ve got a lot I want to cover but we’re pretty busy right now with last minute tidbits, such as ridding ourselves of fire ant beds on the front lawn so our camping paddlers won’t awaken at midnight with a roving army of carnivorous sadists bent on destroying our triple A rating.

I want to talk about Fat Mama’s Tamales, in their new location, and I want to tell you about the incredible Reuben sandwiches we’ve been devouring at the Uptown Grocery, and the bottle of Talisker Single Malt Phatwater Veteran and Chief Petty Officer Braxton Barden presented me with last week for shuttling him and his cohorts to the Put-In.  But alas, time is shoved into a thimble at the moment and I have to work the underground until dawn, so, “Let me say this:  Being a idiot ain’t no box of chocolates.”  Those of you who read Winston Groom’s novel, Forrest Gump, will recognize this as the opening line of the book, which to my mind was and forever shall be far superior to that lame line the screen writers bastardized for the film version of same; to wit, “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates.”  Lord, spare me!

Anyway, it’s past 8ish, and I’m beersty, so let me leave you all with this:  Please remember to bring a personal first aid kit.  A more detailed “recommended gear list” will follow.

All for the moment—KB