The Ouachita River runs through Southern Arkansas. Big, muddy waters traveling through poor communities. Old men on the banks cast fishing lines two at a time, hoping for a bite, tugs from a cat, or a buffalo, maybe a blue gill. Something to take home and fry with cornmeal. The Ouachita rushes on.

He used to take me fishing there. Dad sat in a chair while I stood up, casting against the wind, my line tangled in tall oaks.

You’re fishing for squirrels, he said. Here. Give me that. He took out a pocket knife and cut the line, leaving the bobber up in the trees. Now, he said. Start all over again. He handed me a bobber and a small piece of bologna to throw out onto the brown water. We’ll make a fisherman of you yet, he said. Just you wait. He laughed. He laughed at me.

His catch was always plentiful. We’d stay out there till he caught at least three, maybe four. From sun up to high noon, we fished. Him with his six pack of Pepsi in a cooler along with egg salad sandwiches and a bag of Fritos. Me with a leftover chicken leg or cold hamburger mom would throw in there. She knew I hated egg salad.

You got plans in life? He asked one day. Real plans. Something you can use to get ahead, he said. I shook my head. You gotta hustle, he told me. You gotta hustle. That’s all I’m saying. To get ahead, you have to know what the next guy is up to. Capesch? I nodded. Not knowing what capesch meant.

If you know of something, don’t go blabbing about it. Keep it quiet. Go get it yourself, he lit his pipe. That’s what you do. That’s what men do, he said. Opportunities seldom come to those who wait. Go out there and get it.

I think of those words from time to time. His advice. I  often wonder if I’m hustling enough. If I’ve explored every opportunity in life. Probably not.

The Ouachita makes you think. Daydream. Now I cast my line, and it does not get stuck in trees. I do  bring home fish for my family. And I go from job to job just like he did. Hustling. Wanting the American dream to come true. I’m not waiting on it.

I’m a journeyman just like the old man. Hammer and saw in my pickup. A square to keep things even. And a fishing pole. You never know when opportunities are going to strike. You got to be ready.