A Slick Fishing Trip and Fall by Kathleen Simon, granddaughter

When I was 10 years old, my family and I came up to Idaho to visit. It was such an exciting vacation because it had been a long time since we had been out west (we were living in Kansas at the time) and it was going to be an adventure. We were going to see the mountains, my mom said, and maybe even get to go fishing and hiking! Oh, I was so excited!! Well, we saw the mountains and they were so beautiful. And , just as promised, we did go fishing, however, that was not quite the fun that I thought it would be although, it was a bit exciting and quite the adventure for my little ten year old self. I don’t remember everyone that went fishing that day, but I do remember that it was Grandpa that took us. We headed out the door bright and early because that is how he liked to start his day. We loaded in to his pickup with fishing poles and worms, real worms that is. Because real worms are the ONLY way to fish, none of this store bought , fakey bait stuff would do. I know that Grandpa wanted to give me an authentic fishing trip, so we went up into the mountains, off the beaten path, into the wild yonder. We hiked, with our gear over rocky terrain, up, over and through mountain streams. I was sticky and sweaty and tired and not all that impressed with this adventure. It was a little bit more difficult than I had imagined. My enthusiasm for the great outdoors was waning. I could feel discouragement and complaint starting to sink in. But I kept pushing forward. In this state of mind, we started crossing a wide part of the creek. I would not be able to jump over it. I would have to try to foot my way across it on the rocks. I started gingerly across, but you see, I was not wearing sturdy work or hiking shoes. I was wearing the latest fad of white, slippery bottom Keds knock-off brand shoes. And with the wet of the rocks and the non existent traction of my shoes I slipped and landed flat on my back. I was soaked! I was sore! I was miserable! I started crying! And what did Grandpa do? He marched right over and said, “Well, what happened?! What are you doing?! Stop your blubbering! Get yourself up! Come on girl! It’s barely an inch of water!” And then he laughed and laughed a big belly of a laugh.

 I think he eventually gave me a hand, and helped me up. Although that trip made me swear off fishing for a long, LONG time, I did learn some things that day. One was, when in Idaho, I will be expected to do as the Idahoans.

 Which includes hiking and fishing like the best of them. No princesses allowed! And no exceptions. Beware girly girls need to toughen up. Another was, hindsight is 20/20. At the time in all of my soggy, bruised glory, I thought Grandpa was quite rude for laughing and letting me sit in the water for so long. But, in his way, he was trying to help me to not take things so seriously and just be strong. My first tough love lesson from Grandpa.