(Another) Fishing Story

"Out Fishin' " by Norman Rockwell

When I was a kid (about 8 yo), I got to go to Gramma Matucheski's for a few days--by myself. That was cool. She had a lot of grand kids, and we were the youngest, so it was kind of neat to be there by myself. They lived on a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin, way out in the country.

One day, I decided to go fishing. So I found a stick, and asked Gramma for some string. She gave me a ball of cotton string pieces "too short to keep." I tied them together until I had enough line to fish with.

Then I asked for a safety pin to use as a hook. Grappa Matucheski heard that -- I don't remember him saying much to me ever -- but this day, he convinced me that a real fishing hook with a barb would work better than just a safety pin. He tied the hook onto my fishing line.

Gramma helped me dig some worms for bait, and away I went (no Coca-Cola as in the Norman Rockwell picture above) ... I started off across the road and fields to the Eau Claire River. I found an old tree stump next to the river, I sat down, and baited my hook and dropped my line in the water. I felt just like Tom Sawyer.

Lots of fish were checking out my hook, but none were biting. I waited patiently. Then along came a big ol' bumblebee. I didn't want to get stung, so I pulled up my fishing line and ran away from that bumbling bee.

When I was safe from the bee, I looked at my fishing pole. I had caught a fish! I'd left in such a hurry, I snagged the poor fish by his eye. (Ouch!)

Just the same, I was proud of my catch. And I showed it to Gramma when I got back to the house. She said, "Ah, yes. Very nice." I thought we'd eat it for supper. Gramma knew it was too small, and she buried it in the garden.