Tattoos! There was a time when only sailors and Marines had tattoos. Usually, they were on their upper arms. My Uncle Zeke, a Marine, had an American flag and a mermaid. My Uncle Jim had an anchor and a seaworthy tat. Other soldiers may have had a Bad Night In Bangkok and got carried away.
It seems like everyone now has a Tat or two. It may be a small little heart or some initials in private areas, for only them to see. Others go full sheaths, or sleeves, on their arms and legs. My son has tatts on his belly. Some people are fully tatted up and should have probably avoided the idea.
My guess is that” the Captain” has a secret tatt of a Huge Walleye somewhere. Angela Montana” has a beautiful sleeve of tatts. Other buddies have tatts of antlers across their backs, lightening bolts on their shoulders, or other artsy and creative markings.
If you get arrested, the police record and photograph every tatt you wear. Tatts make you unique. Having no tatts are really rare. Some folks get full body tatts that may haunt them when they age.
Once you get a tatt, it’s there forever. The colors may fade, the lines will wrinkle, and you may need an interpreter to identify the skin art but, oh well. A little makeup may hide it for a while. I am sure that in the future a laser, or some other procedures, will erase old girl and boyfriend names.
At one Kids Fishing Derby, we let all the kids get tatted up. They were covered in all sorts of cartoons and characters. Fortunately, they washed off at the end of the fishing trip.
Hunters and Anglers seem to be excited about their Tatting. Maybe a big elk, buck, bird, or fish makes sense. Bragging rights are important. Rulers along an angler’s leg help measure their catches.
Hunting dog faces, drift boats, and loved ones’ images are popular. There is pretty much nothing that a tattoo artist can’t do.
Montana Grant is still Tatt Free! My smooth, beautiful skin has a few scars, but no images. My kids and friends want me to join the Tattoo club.
I came up with an idea to have my belly tattooed with a rising trout sipping a mayfly. The trout’s eye would be my navel. Fly fishing is my favorite thing so why not. If I went back to guiding, my clients could poke the trout tattoo in the eye, every time they landed a fish. I could then giggle like the Pilsbury Dough Boy. Catching trout could be even more interactive.
Once I drew a picture of my idea, the crowd grew silent, and my Tatted Rowdy Friends are not bugging me anymore. The idea of poking my Trouser Trout in the eye was not well received. Even the Tattoo artist backed off.
Maybe for another time?
Montana Grant
