The Fish That Covers

WESTERN WISDOM  Season 3, Episode 020  "The Fish That Covers" audio podcast by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series.  

"Gotta Have My Fish" Blog post article found here:   https://www.blybooks.com/2022/05/slicker/

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Transcript

FISH SLICKER 

Normally an old-time cowboy’s outfit was fairly boring. Muddy boots, duckings for trousers, and off-white cotton shirt that turned gray with age. His bandanna may have started out colorful, but after a few weeks on the trail it turned out pretty grimy. Now, the one exception was his rain slicker. He’d just call it his fish. That was the trademark on the inside label. Every fish was a bright yellow oil skin slicker. It wasn’t a coat to keep you warm. But it did keep you dry. 

Many a cowboy wore out his fish by just tying it to the back of a saddle. But he wouldn’t think to go to work without it. To get caught in a downpour with your fish back in a wagon was more humiliating than getting bucked off a kid horse.  

That fish was handy on more days than rainy ones. If he was riding a slick worn saddle on a horse wanting to buck, the fish would jam between him and the saddle horn to make a bucking roll to wedge him in. It was a good item to train a horse with so they wouldn’t be so jumpy at every new thing they saw. 

 And being as waterproof as anything in those days, the fish was used to cover your pack or bedroll or your dinner or your other shirt or spare coat or anything else you didn’t want to get soaked during a storm or crossing the river. The old fish or slicker could cover up a wide variety of valuables. A cowboy without one was either dirt poor or dumb. 

The Bible says that in the spiritual realm, “Above all, love each deeply because love covers a multitude of sins.”  

Now, covering the sins of those we love doesn’t mean we believe their actions were correct. Sin is sin. And covering their sins doesn’t mean they can escape from the consequences. But it does mean we refuse to let other people’s sins destroy the friendship of those we love.  

I’ve got a feeling we ought to roll up that kind of love and take it with us wherever we go. You never know when a relationship will suddenly fail you. It’s a mighty handy item with way more uses than any yellow fish. None of us is too poor to love this way. And let’s hope that none of us is too dumb to neglect it.  

Stephen Bly

Circa 1994