Fishin' On Thin Ice

Cletus considered himself an expert angler, handy with reel and rod. He'd landed ever'thing from wily rainbow trout to North Atlantic cod. He'd fished the streams, rivers and lakes from sea to shinin' sea, But he met his Waterloo on an ice fishin' expedition as we shall see! He bought a tidy little fishin' shack that was really very nifty, That he could haul aboard his pickup, a beat-up old Ford One-fifty. He purchased a parka, gloves and boots to weather the fiercest storm, And took his pals Jim Beam and Jack Daniels along to help keep him warm! He drove upon the ice and set up his shack on a North Dakota reservoir, Settled back anticipatin' a nibble on his line and then he lit a fine cigar. He took a snooze but was awakened by a growin' rumblin' sound. At that he pulled on his boots and got up to take a look around. Alas, a huge crack in the ice was creepin' inexorably t'ward his Ford! He espied a beckonin' floe passin' by and quickly jumped aboard! Cletus shivered as he saw his truck and the shack sink in a trice! "Damn", he mused, "I reckon I misjudged the thickness of the ice!" Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired