Falwell’s Friend Not long after Suz-Anne and the kids moved to Florida, Falwell found a friend. In fact, the friend (whom we shall call Fabio) worked with Falwell at Fort Polk. Fabio and Falwell decided they would both benefit from Fabio moving into the spare room in Falwell’s apartment. For starters, the trailer that Fabio had been living in housed a goodly amount of roaches, which on occasion would smack Fabio in the face in the middle of the night. He lovingly termed the kamikaze roaches ‘pterodactyls’ in reference to their large-ish size. Also, his trailer did not have a working washer and dryer, so Fabio had to drive to a rundown Laundromat in Leesville to wash his clothes. Falwell could see no reason to leave a perfectly good room empty at his apartment, especially when Fabio could keep him company and pay half the rent. Falwell quickly discovered after Fabio moved in that the benefits kept piling up. Falwell now had a friend to go kayaking with, to play Frisbee with, to carpool to work with, to share cooking responsibilities with and to provide a much bigger TV with cable and internet. They agreed that Falwell would pay the utilities and Fabio would pay for cable (which Falwell had been living without). Moreover, Fabio replaced Falwell’s miniature TV with his much larger flat screen, which made watching football and Wheel of Fortune so much nicer. The first weekend after Fabio moved in, he bought a kayak similar to Falwell’s and accompanied him on several kayak excursions. Falwell’s little Ford Ranger miraculously managed to hold both kayaks in the bed and both large men in the standard size cab. The first time that they tried to go kayaking a rain shower developed as they were driving to the lake. When they arrived at the river, the rain came steadily down, so Falwell and Fabio decided to wait out the storm at a café nearby. Falwell ordered some pancakes and Fabio got a coffee. They sat on a porch and watched the rain falling on the lake. They also talked to a local fellow whose overalls barely covered his sizable beer gut and whose weathered face sprouted a cauliflower nose. The fellow told them about his fishing adventures and his brief stint in the military. Eventually the rain subsided, allowing Falwell and Fabio to continue their kayaking adventure. At first Fabio paddled very tentatively. Fabio was afraid he may be pushing the weight limit of his little kayak, and he did not want to tip it over lest he not be able to get back in. After a while, Fabio gained some confidence in his little boat and his paddling abilities. Falwell led Fabio back into an area full of reeds and lily pads where a hunter had long ago erected a floating, camouflaged duck-hunting stand. The marshy area surrounding the stand even sported several decoys to attract the real ducks. After paddling around in there for a while, Falwell led Fabio down a river that contained a few obstacles. The first obstacle was a log that had fallen across the entire river. One either had to get out on the shore or hop out on the log itself, pull the kayak across and hop in on the other side. The brush was thick on the shore, so Falwell opted to hop out on the log. He demonstrated his technique for Fabio, insisting that it was not that difficult. After several attempts, Fabio finally made it over the log. On the way back he opted to get out on the shore and portage the kayak to the other side of the log. Another obstacle required them to duck forward very low in the kayak in order to scoot under a low hanging tree. On occasion, a mostly submerged log or a shallow sandy area would require them to push off the obstacle with their hands in order to pass over it. By the end of the excursion, Fabio could not wait to go kayaking again. The second kayaking excursion took place on the cane river near Natchitoches. Fabio and Falwell started with lunch at one of the quaint restaurants on Front street in Natchitoches. Fabio sampled frog legs for the first time, and Falwell had shrimp. Afterwards, they paddled down the river and admired the houses along the banks. To cool off they paddled underneath a fountain in the middle of the river. Falwell showed Fabio how to jump out and get back in the kayak from the water, but Fabio was still not keen on the idea. The third kayaking excursion took place on Vernon Lake. They paddled out to the big concrete structure, which Falwell jumped off into the lake a couple times. Fabio declined the opportunity. Finally, when they got back to the beach after they finished kayaking Fabio waded into the water. A little dog decided it needed to follow Fabio and Falwell around while they walked to look at the spillway. After some gentle coaxing, the dog eventually flopped back to its owner. The fourth kayaking excursion took place in Chicot State Park. Falwell got a tip from someone that had grown up in Louisiana that Chicot was a fabulous place to see alligators. Many of the lakes in West Central Louisiana were man-made, but Chicot was natural. It was quite scenic. Fabio and Falwell saw two alligators swimming around in addition to fish, birds, spiders, turtles, dragonflies, an armadillo and cypress trees growing right out of the lake. Fabio brought along his camera and took some pictures, which he promptly posted to Facebook when they got back to the apartment. The fifth kayaking excursion took place on the Ouiska Chitto River. Falwell strapped a little cooler with some drinks and snacks to the back of his kayak using bungee cords. They paddled leisurely with the current down the river, stopping occasionally on the sand bars to stretch their legs or to hop in the water for a refreshing swim. At one point, they paused to watch some people swing out over the river on a rope tied to a tree limb and plop in the water. Falwell and Fabio struck up conversations with the myriad of people floating down the river in canoes. Fabio discovered that he rather enjoyed the sights and exercise associated with kayaking. Doing something active gave him a nice break from the classes he was taking and his more sedentary pastimes of reading and playing video games. In addition to kayaking, they also played Frisbee in the grassy area right next to the apartment. Sometimes the four year old boy that lived next door would come out and want to throw the Frisbee with them. For a four year old, he was actually rather good. One time several of the neighbors’ dogs were running around and one decided that it needed to abscond with the Frisbee. The next time Falwell looked at the Frisbee, he realized the dog had perforated the disc with its sharp teeth. Fortunately, the Frisbee still flew just fine. One night for dinner, Fabio decided he would make brisket on the grill. He told Falwell to smash an equal amount of sea salt and un-ground pepper to season the brisket. Falwell had never engaged in this activity before and made the comment that the store sold salt and pepper already ground. Fabio explained that freshness and the way food was prepared significantly improved the flavor. After enjoying the brisket and subsequent dinners of blackened salmon, barbecued chicken wings, curried chicken and rice (to name a few) Falwell picked up the hype that Fabio was putting down. Life goes on… Fabio and Falwell anticipate kayaking and playing Frisbee quite a bit less over the next few weeks while they train a unit from the 82nd Airborne Division. In October, Fabio has to go to California to assist the National Training Center (NTC) with a rotation. From October through the first part of December Falwell will be in Arizona for some professional development.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 02:54:21 +0000
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