Slithering Creature

Adventure Location: Rockport, TX
Adventure Date: 1/20/2018

It was 1984 out in Pedernales Falls State Park. A sordid creature of suspicious background was slithering on and over the rocks in the river just to look around. That critter later became known as the Old Fat Man, a Meanderthall of ill repute. It came to a place where the large river rocks almost made a complete circle out in the river bed. It managed to make it down to the small pool in the 8 foot deep pothole in the river. A small waterfall was running over the upper ledge and splashing merrily on the small pond at the bottom. The water filtered through the cracks in the rocks and continued on down stream.

The creature  noticed a natural bench near the pool and sat down to rest a bit. It was enjoying the peace and gentle water music when it suddenly noticed the object. It was a Thermos brand mug. It was a pretty red. Imprinted on the side was the logo for Shell Oil Co. Below that is printed WESTHOLLOW RESEARCH CENTER and below that is 1983 Safety Award.

It was basically brand new. The creature rested for about a half hour and it was time to meander some more. He picked up the cup in case someone was nearby that had forgotten it. There was no humans in sight. The cup, since that day, has been with the OFM.

It is now worn and a little ragged. The slick lining is now worn through a few places and is difficult to wash clean. It is a grand cup that has served well for lots of years and seen thousands of places in the USA.

For a few years the OFM has been considering retiring his old friend. But is has been difficult to part company. Finally yesterday, a new mug was found. It is a fisherman’s mug.

Notice it says Texas Trio on it. That is close enough but here on the coast the natives call it  a Texas Slam. That is a stringer with a redfish, a speckled trout and a nice flounder. It has a nice heft to it and a very comfortable handle. Of course it had to be filled the first time with the OFM’s preferred winter drink, Hot Chocolate.

Now the old cup can snuggle into the back of the cabinet and rest. However we did make sure that it knows that it must be ready to be called into service at any time in the future should it’s services be needed while we are trying to have tooooo much fun.