Gift from Stickbender

[criveraville]

Yesterday I recieved a beautiful snake skinning knife from Stickbender for Diego.  Wow!!!  Beautiful knife and a very generous gift!!  He absolutely loved it and will use it lots!!!

I will post pics of him using it as soon as we get some scales... 

Thank you mucho Stickbender!!!

[stickbender]

  De' Nada mi Amigo.  Glad he liked it.  Too bad he wasn't there at the log site, to skin that nice Timber Rattler.
Just tell him not to unlatch any digits, por favor.   Pardon my spelling in Spanish.  I have to go with phonetics, and not sure of word order.  Only had about six weeks of Spanish in the third grade, when some rocket scientist higher up the education chain, decided it wasn't worth while.  The kids, and teachers almost rioted!  There was a hundred percent attendance, even if you were sick, you didn't want to miss out on the days Spanish lesson.  It was on a 33 1/3 rpm record.   Hey, it was a long time ago.  Anyway, it didn't sit well with any of us.  Sure wish they would have continued the lessons.  That is the perfect age to learn a new language.  Oh well, it has always been thus......   Este' es un gatto.  Este' un perro.  Donde' e sta el Diego?  Over yonder skinning snakes with his new snake skinning Cuchillo!   Tell him not to make fun of your slow style of skinning.  Tell him to just bear with you till you get the hang of it.   Oh, speaking of knives, I am surprised that they let you bring that big ol obsidian blade to school for "show and tell".  Most anywhere else, you would have been hung up by your thumbs, and interrogated by janet napiltano, and michael chertoff, personally!   Where did you get such a terrible weapon?  Where did he get the technology to make such a thing, and why would he make such a thing.......etc.   But I am glad that you are able to still do that out there, and I know the kids must've really loved it.  I know I would have at that age.  Have you taken any primitive bows, and arrows, and quivers, and other accoutrement's to show them, bone and or stone awls, drills, bow drills, bone sewing needles, sinew, brain tanned leather etc. ?  I bet they would really like that.   Hot dang, Mr. Rivera, you're the coolest Teacher we ever had!  Of course you're the only Man teacher we ever had........
Could you bring that bow and arrow back to class, and let us shot at that big ol Saguaro out by the bus stop?  Or at that big ol Condor that keeps sitting on the roof of the cafeteria?  I will trade you two Mexican beaded lizard skins, complete with skull, and one Gila monster skin and skull for that bow and arrow!  Aw c'mon Mr. Rivera, the other teachers won't even let me bring in the ol cow skull.  And it's almost finished rotting!  I could put it on the ant mound out by the swing set......I envy you with those kids.  Must be fun to watch their expressions, and sense of wonderment, and see their imaginations go full throttle.   Well take Diego out looking for fresh road kills, and chicken snakes.

                                                                               Wayne

[mullet]

 Wayne, I think they quit teaching us Spanish when Kennedy backed down the Russians during the Cuban Missle Crisis. I learned it in the Fourth grade and also the Duck and Cover drills. We were supposed to learn Spanish in case the Cubans invaded us, little did they know it wouldn't happen till the Mariel Boatlift.

[stickbender]

     Yeah, but this was in the mid to late Fifties....   Before all that started.  When the Mu Mu was popular. One of my teachers wore one of those.  Looked like a blimp that had a blow out.    She was a big un......   Looked she was ready to haunt a house.   I was in the eighth grade I think when el poo poo hit the fan with Cuba.  Some pretty neat looking stuff, going down that way on train cars.  Some really nifty looking high speed assault boats.  Haven't seen them or anything like them since. 

                                                                 Wayne

[mullet]

Yep, forgot you were that old It was around '62 for me.

[criveraville]

Wayne,

Your Spanish is good enough for me   He is very excited about using the knife... He is a boy after my own heart.  Son of my right hand and joy.  When that big cuchillo from Will came in I showed it to my principal and asked if I could use it to demonstrate what people before us use for everyday use.  She really liked it and thought it was a great work.  I do get to show my students lots of neat and interesting things from our natural world.  I did take a bow to school but have not had the opportunity to fling arrows with it as a demonstration.  I didn't take the string or arrows.  But when I cover the Puritans, Plymoth and Thanksgiving I am going to ask if I can demonstrate to the students.  That would be lots of fun.  I have brought an atlatl, quivers, slingshot, drums, rattles and a box from Pat B that was filled with amazing things for my kids to investigate. 

Thank you for the kind words I am really blessed myself to get to teach kids and present the material (not my opinions or view points) and allow them to come to their own conclusions.. 

I remember the cold war in the early 80's and the silly A Bomb drills we would have..  Well I learned Spanish by default, but I learned English the Baptist way.  Full immersion   Cipriano

[stickbender]

     Cipriano, your students are indeed lucky.   I bet they can't wait for the holidays, to see what you are going to show up with.
Mom, Dad!  Guess What?!!  My teacher showed how the Indians at Plymouth Rock, celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims!  And we got to skin and gut a deer!   It was really neat!    Look, I am going to make a change purse out of this deer scrotum, for you Mom.  Mom?!!  Mom? are you ok?  You look like you need to lie down for awhile.  Don't worry, once I turn this thing inside out, and scrape it, and then use this bag of deer brains to tan it it like the Indians did, you will have the neatest change purse in the state!  Dad, is Mom just excited, or is she not feeling well?  Oh well, I have to heat up these brains......now where is Mom's favorite sauce pan?.....   I am glad that you have people in the admin that will allow you to bring things like the Obsidian Blade, and let them see first hand just how "Primitive were the lives, and how (low) the intelligent quotient" of our ancestors, were.   Let them see just how much intelligence and determination to survive they luckily had, and what skill, and technological advances they made from the stone tools to metallurgy, or we would not be here.  I hope that you can inspire other teachers to follow suit, and give their students hands on activities about our history, both good and bad on both sides of the White Man, and Indian perspective.  Take care, and keep up the good teaching, and not the prescribed dumbing down of our education system.  My hat is off to you.  Well, so is my hair, but none the less, you deserve a pat on the back, and a cold cervasa!  I am sure the kids that pass through your class will remember these things for quite some time, and pass them on to their kids.

                                                           Wayne

[criveraville]

Wayne,

That is the most sincere and gracious compliment I have ever received.  Thank you so much amigo.  It means a lot.  I feel like I am the lucky one really.  The kids are like sponges and everything I bring up here is amazing and awe inspiring to them.  Yes, thank God for "reasonable and down to earth" administrators.  My principal is a country girl and she has a brother.  That has been a blessing.  And the teachers totally love the "stuff" I bring up here too.  When my buddy brought me pheasant feathers from S Dakota, he also tossed in a head and next, a few feet and lots of wings (which Jack Crafty) got in a trade.  Anyway, I brought the head to class and skinned it out in my classroom and then tacked it to the wall and let it dry out.. I kid you not The kids got to see how beautiful pheasant are and they all got to take feathers home. It was a really neat lesson.  Then I traveled down to Diego's classroom and showed his class and they each got feathers too.  Kids are just drawn to nature and they are fascinated by it.. His teacher is a dear family friend.  Her name is Laura, but we know her as Lulu.. Best teacher my son ever had and I think ever will have..

[predatorcaller]

Stick also sent my son(hunter-trapper) and myself a few very nice knives a few years back and we still use em today.I actually just unloaded my turkey pack and put one of the knives he gave me away for now.Never got to meet Stickbender but we chat through messages now and then.Thanks again-lloyd

[stickbender]

     Well Sir, the Compliment was and is deserving.   I am glad that Diego has a great also has a great Teacher, besides his Father and Mother.  Teachers are taken for granted too often, and far too lightly.  You are so lucky to have the admin. People that you have.   And like I said before your Students are luckiest of all to have the combination of both in their school.  Your admin personnel need to be acknowledged also.   Well tell Diego that I hope he gets use that knife on a lot of snakes, hogs, deer, and #@##! tarantulas!  I don't know how the Indians, and pioneers, and cowboys ever made it out there.  I would have to sleep in the day, and ride at night, and hope my horse didn't step in a gopher hole.  The snakes, I can get by with, but those #%^#@!!*****!! Big arse hairy spiders......   Oh, and those big Scorpians also!!   The indians in S.A. eat the Tarantulas.  They take a stick and push it down behind the hole in the ground where the spider is, and force it out, and whack it, and toss it on a fire, and burn all the hairs off, (Which is one of the Spider's defenses, it will rub it's legs, and send the tiny little hairs floating in the breeze, and any animal close will in hale them.  It is like inhaling tiny fiber glass threads. ) and then pull the legs out, and eat them.  Supposed to taste like shrimp.   ::)Blech!!   I get fiddler crabs out of the holes like that.  I find a good spot with lots of fiddler crabs, and when they run down into the hole, I take a stick, or steel rod, and poke in behind the tunnel, and pry upwards, and they come running out, and I grab them, and toss them in the bucket.  I used to use a shovel, but one day, I forgot to put it in the truck, and was trying to dig them up with a stick, and noticed that they would run out of the hole, but the stick broke, and  then I found a piece of 1/2 inch rebar, and I saw a crab partially down in the hole, which they don't go far into unless threatened, so I stuck the rod in behind about 3-4 inches, at an angle and, and forced it up and  pried the crab out of the hole, and that is how I it do now.  So when I want to get bait for Sheepshead, or other fish, I take a rod with me and load up my bucket in no time, and a whole lot less work.   Well Mejo, keep up the good work and Mile Gracias for what you do .

                                                                           Wayne