Last
Friday morning, Vince and I wet a line in the Mississippi. So
what you say, you guys are always going fishing. Well, not
really. We haven’t been out on the water together at least,
for quite a while what with his running off to Texas on vacation with
his family for a week, and his teaching summer school, and then
abandoning me by going up north on vacation - again with his family
for a week. I on the other hand have just been hanging out
around the ranch waiting for his call, except for several photography
jobs, our trip to Canada, trips to Cassville and Potosi, South
Dakota, and three trips to the Vernon County Courthouse for jury duty
trials in July, all while the weather pretty much made our geothermal
air conditioning much more inviting than the backwaters of Ole Miss.
Actually, even this fishing trip was sort of stolen too as I had jury
duty the day before and expected to have jury duty again on Friday.
To
explain I have to say that last Thursday, I was selected for a jury
trial for what was expected to be a two-day event. After some
coffee and excellent donuts and hearing some opening testimony and
such, we broke for lunch. The sun was shining and there was a
light and dry breeze, so I walked the few blocks down to the Viroqua
Coop and dined on the salad bar, eating outside on the patio tables.
I had a visit with a retired acupuncturist who said she came to
Viroqua on vacation from L.A. some 20 years before and liked it so
much, she stayed. After my “responsible” lunch choice, I
treated myself to an excellent ice cream cone at Dave’s Pizza.
I wandered through several other businesses including the Driftless
Angler fishing shop. I am not much of a fly fisherman, but I
like the idea. The folks inside were friendly and the place is every
fly fisherman’s idea of what the hereafter ought to have in it, for
a forever fishing adventure.
Anyway,
while meandering back to the courthouse, the attractive green space
out front reminded me of my mind’s idea of the fictional Maycomb
County Courthouse in Harper Lee’s To
Kill A Mockingbird
and
her more recent Go
Set A Watchman
which
I had finished the night before. I could picture Atticus Finch
walking Jem and Scout down the sidewalk on their way home for lunch.
Oh, if you plan on reading the recently released and surprisingly
controversial Go
Set A Watchman,
I suggest you read To
Kill A Mockingbird
first,
and then read Go
Set A Watchman
with
an open mind. I had to re-read the last quarter of the book and
slow it down a bit. I used to teach To
Kill A Mockingbird
to
9th graders, and it is my favorite novel of all time I think
(followed closely by All
The King’s Men).
I am not so sure about ...Watchman.
I
also stopped at the WWI memorial and read and wondered about the
names on the WW1 veterans memorial; I recognized many of the surnames
like Christianson, Dahl, Jacobson, and Running that are still known
in the area. I wish I could know their stories.
Anyway
when court resumed, the jury was told to wait in the jury room for
about half-an-hour. When we finally came to the jury box, Judge
Rosborough told us not to get too comfortable as the parties had
settled and we were thanked and sent on our way. Hurray!
I stopped for another peck of South Carolina peaches and headed home.
Back
to Friday morning, Vince and I put in at the north landing in Goose
Island Park and tried angling a deep hole he knew about. The
current was strong, making it hard to hold the Queen in place with
two anchors in the mud. We moved around trying snags here and
there, losing some tackle and bait, finally trying a shallow shaded
tunnel-like bay lined with docks and boats on the south side of La
Crosse. The morning air was sun kissed but tempered by a
northerly breeze that kept it cool, in the shade anyway. Vince
tossed out a slip bobber with a crawler chunk and shortly caught a
small bass. He said, “That’s one Kokie. I am off the
snide.” (“That’s one” is an allusion to our friend
Gordie who always starts counting if he catches the first fish.
He usually does too.) There were a couple small perch up out of
the water on Vince’s end of the boat before I hooked anything, a
small gill. He boated a real nice dark-headed bluegill, but it
was the only keeper all morning. In the end we solved the
problems of the world and shirked our responsibilities at home for a
couple of hours.
Until
next time, get out - On Sunday we traveled to Burton and the
annual Uppena Family reunion/picnic. Lots of catching up and
too much food! Sunday evening, I was getting some brats ready
to grill while the water heated up to boil some Hickory Hills
sweetcorn when our friends the Sikoras brought Kelly from Denmark
over to meet us. Kelly is an exchange student who will be a
sophomore at De Soto High School and live with the Sikoras this
year. The Sikoras were also fixing sweet corn and grilling out
this night and having some fireworks in Kelly’s honor. Gregg
told her he can’t wait for her to see a Packer game. Enjoy.
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