A lot of people assume you have to go to the swamp to find feechiefolks. But as we learned in Nashville this past May, sometimes the swamp comes to you. When the Flood of 2010 inundated much of Nashville, a neighbor of my friend Thomas McKenzie got in touch with his inner feechie. Here’s the footage, taken by Father Thomas himself.

8 Comments
  • js
    1:25 PM, 18 August 2010

    So, do you think the Feechie family ate that carp? I felt sorry for the fish gasping for air didn’t you?

  • Jonathan Rogers
    2:40 PM, 18 August 2010

    They looked to me like they meant business. So, yes, I think they must have eaten the poor, gasping carp, though from what I have heard about the quality of carp as a foodfish, I don’t know that they enjoyed it. I’m reminded of a recipe for carp I once ran across: “Scale and clean your carp on a wooden board. Put carp–still on the board–under the broiler. Leave fish under the broiler for an hour or until both fish and board are blackened. Remove from oven. Throw away the carp. Eat the board.”

  • Steve S
    5:13 PM, 19 August 2010

    When you mentioned your blog this morning I knew I had to come check it out. I didn’t realize the paint is still wet on it. Your post also reminds me of a joke my father used to tell:
    A boy scout troop went on a hike. Crossing over a stream, one of the boys dropped his wallet into the water. Suddenly a carp jumped, grabbed the wallet and tossed it to another carp. Then that carp passed it to another carp, and all over the river carp appeared and tossed the wallet back and forth. “Well, boys,” said the Scout leader, “you’ve just seen a rare case of carp-to-carp walleting.”

  • Jonathan Rogers
    6:22 PM, 20 August 2010

    Ah, material! Thanks, Steve. We used to have joke hour around the supper table, but it’s been a while because I’ve run out of suitable material. We were getting a little edgy for a while there. When my kindergartener regaled her class with a joke about a cigarette-smoking rabbit (very funny, by the way), I decided it might be best to put joke hour on pause…

  • Scott Brooke
    8:04 PM, 27 August 2010

    Mr. Rogers ! My carp story is this .In the river that is backed up by the Grand Coulee Dam in Wash. state. My Five children and our friends’ 6 children ( all under the age o twelve) were all sprawled belly down on the boat dock with their hands stretched into the water chattering and laughing . We the adults being fifty yards away concluded they were safe based on swim ability. We were roused by much whooping and rejoicing! The eldest son of our friends held in his hands a carp ( that to the best of my recollection ) was three to four feet long. We immediately investigated and found amid the” making of a joyful noise” the carp to be missing an eye on one side. The lad had daringly snagged the blind fish when it passed by. The greatest rejoicing was expressed by their cat not long after. Scott

    • Jonathan Rogers
      3:28 AM, 30 August 2010

      People catching animals with their bare hands. I can tell that’s going to be a recurring theme on this website, both in the main entries and in the comments. Good. Thanks, Scott, for this story. Glad to know the feechie ethos is alive and well in the Pacific Northwest.

  • Canaan Bound
    3:19 AM, 29 September 2010
  • Canaan Bound
    3:21 AM, 29 September 2010

    Okay, that’s a really BAD version of the song, but…you get the point.

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