slick rules.

Nathaniel "Slick" Dixon has done all of our concrete work at the house. And this past week he has been cleaning up and reinforcing area under the front porch and stairs. He put down rebar before pouring a concrete base under the stairs, and then applied Sure-Wall to strengthen the foundation before Mike puts the cast iron steps back in place.

While Slick was working this week he took time to tell me about how every night they head to the Missouri River bottom where paddlefish have been stranded by the receding flood waters. I listened wide-eyed to the stories of snagging and catching these huge fish which are now fare game as hunting restrictions are lifted because these amazing fish are land locked.

On Sunday night Mike and I tagged along with Slick - and sure enough - he snagged one and let me think I was catching it and reeling it in!

Who needs deep sea fishing when you can do this right here in Nebraska? I loved feeling the "gill rakers" with my hands! (Remember the brush-like things in the whale's mouth in Finding Nemo that filter the tiny krill fish?) These amazing prehistoric fish feed on plankton. They swim with their huge mouths open and catch the tiny plankton in their gill rakers. Amazing. He was still very alive when I held him in this bottom picture. I could manage it better knowing it was like a "rescue" because all of these landlocked fish will die when the flood waters continue to recede. Mike and I cleaned it ourselves (with Slick's guidance) and we grilled it for supper.

Thanks for the great adventure, Slick! And for your great work on our house!