OK, since I'm doing blog stories,

in different areas, here's another 'rocking chair memory'. First of all, not all RCM's are good, BUT I will never forget this one. I was probably 15 years old, and one winter morning, very early, my dad and brother and I, went duck hunting. We had a duck blind, on the Platte River, near our home, in Kearney, Nebr. WAY before sunrise, on a cold winter morning, we were carrying duck decoys, guns, etc, to our blind on an island on the river. It was 'lovely weather for ducks', which was another way of saying, it was really nasty for humans. Cold, windy and snowing. Perfect weather to bring the ducks in, BUT, not the best way to stay warm. Anyway, we walked the 3/4 mile thru the fields, the woods, and the shallow channels, to our island, with the blind. On the downstream side, there was a ledge of ice, where I was placing decoys, in the pre-dawn blizzard. As I put out the last 'deek', the ice broke and I fell into the swiftly flowing water. My hip waders quickly filled with water and I was swept, head over heels, downstream, under the ice, in the cold dark water. I eventually came up, and walked back, totally drenched, to the blind, as the ducks were beginning to fly in. It was decided I should go directly to the car and warm up, but Dad and Doug would get a limit of ducks first, then join me. SOO, I walked thru the darkness, snow and wind toward the car. By the time I got there, I tried to get the keys out of my pocket to open the door and start the car, but my pants were frozen, and my fingers wouldn't work. Luckily, there was another hunter (or farmer, I don't know) who happened to be there, and reached in my pocket, unlocked the door, and started the car. I have no idea what would have happened, without him, BUT, over 40 years later, I can still remember the feeling of standing in the predawn blizzard and realizing my frozen fingers could not get the keys out of my pocket. As I said, not all rocking chair memories are good, BUT, if you still have a memory after all this time, it was probably very memorable....