Stranger than.............

... fiction
Inspiration
I'm watching a Xmas present  ' Mr Sherlock Holmes ' w/ Ian McKellen.
Of course , you might expect a line , such as ' fiction , rubbish , I deal in facts  '

When I was in 3 rd year university , an opportunity arose for me to work the summer for a professor on a research project. My main function was to collect data on Sports fishing on L. Huron. There was a research camp that formed the base for several professors and their crews.
As well , as the creel census and fish research programs , specific tasks would come to the camp as a whole from the Department of Lands and Forest.
One directive brought the whole camp staff into play. The objective was to capture by net and transport approximately 100 carp ( the fish species ). The carp were believed to be a good source of information on the presence of pollutants in the L. Huron watershed.
With much anticipation and enthusiasm the 12 or so young men set out to a neighbouring marsh area.
The high spirits lasted all of 20 minutes. We discovered that carp were fast - fast enough to sprint around the end of the nets as the trap closed. And that the carp could burrow under the net and were able to jump right over the net.
Our little adventure become an all day slog through mucky water with slight successes as 2 or 3 carp would fall prey to our pedestrian effort.
However , job done , an observant fellow noticed that although we drove over 3 1/2 miles to arrive at the marsh that the camp was directly across from the marsh about a 150 yd swim. Gleefully , one after another the guys started swimming home. As I neared the water , one of the older guys tossed me the truck keys and yelled     ' rookie drives , thats the way it is ' and was gone.
I returned to the truck , a 2 1/2 ton flat bed with its tank of fish and climbed into the cab and the manual transmission. You are right.
I'd never driven a standard. I knew the theory but no practice.
The truck lurched forward and seemed to roll backward nicely.
The thought of backing up for 3 miles was not appealing.
Eventually , I was rocking down the dirt road and then onto the well worn lane leading to the camp. As I approached the gate , I noticed a crowd standing and waiting.
A voice called out ' see , I told you not to worry '. A veteran camp
hand stepped up on the side of the cab and poked his head in.
' They said that you didn't drive standards. You did well. How did you shift into 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th ? '
' Second ? ' I answered
Yes , I'd driven home 3 1/2 miles in first gear !

Weather : we are above normal w/ patchy sky. The week ahead seems a mixed bag of warm / cool , rain / no rain.