| The other day I got up my courage, jumped into an | | | | The binoculars are Barsk X-Trail®, 15 x 70. They |
| extra pair of longjohns, and took off for the Salmon | | | | come with a very large carrying case, which I'm sure |
| Creek Reservoir to fish through the ice. | | | | could be used as a backpack, and with a tripod. |
| A couple of years ago one of the girls in my Sunday | | | | It says $119.95 on the box but my wife paid less |
| School class told me she went ice fishing with her | | | | than half that using my American Express® card. |
| family in Southern Idaho and that she had fun. | | | | Before we bought them, I got permission to take |
| They caught some nice trout. | | | | them outside the store to look at the moon. The |
| Her thought stuck in my head and I decided to give | | | | moon was full so I didn't think I would see much |
| it a try this year since ice fishing can be fun. | | | | detail like you can when the moon is partly in |
| I could see those trout a sizzling in the fry pan. | | | | shadow. |
| Up where my oldest son lives in Michigan they put | | | | Someone is building a greenhouse up there! |
| out their little fishing houses until the spring thaw | | | | I set in my chair and scanned the reservoir. There |
| when a number of them, along with automobiles, sink | | | | was not a sole around and the cold was already |
| into the lake. | | | | seeping into my old bones. |
| During the summer they build a new fish hut or | | | | I decided so much for ice fishing in the winter in |
| whatever they choose to call it. | | | | Idaho. |
| I don't have a fish hut so up here in Idaho I would | | | | That's when I saw my old friend Big Foot. |
| have to stand out on the ice and freeze my buns. | | | | Well, I heard him before I saw him. |
| Actually because of my lousy heart history I'm not | | | | He called, "Is that you, Taylor Jones, the hack |
| supposed to go out on a reservoir no more than I'm | | | | writer?" |
| supposed to take a July stroll in the Sahara. But the | | | | I scanned the ice and there he was, sprawled out on |
| weather had warmed up to freezing and I decided to | | | | the ice as flat as a pancake. |
| give ice fishing a go. | | | | I'm always amazed over his superior eye sight. |
| The road was pretty crummy to the lake but I made | | | | I yelled as loudly as I could, "Yes!" |
| it in fine fiddle. | | | | His roar came back across the ice and echoed from |
| The first thing I noticed when I got there was that I | | | | the rocks above me, "I thought I could smell you! |
| didn't have a valid Idaho fishing license. A new year | | | | Can you help me? I'm stuck on thin ice!" |
| had slipped in on me. | | | | Some woodsman! |
| Well, we old people can be forgetful and the fish | | | | I yelled, "I'm coming to get you!" |
| warden would understand. | | | | I chucked the chair in the back of the Toyota and |
| I pulled the hood of my barn coat over my knit cap | | | | drove across the dam to the west side of the lake. I |
| to cut out the wind that never stops blowing up | | | | wasn't sure how the road would be. It's bad enough |
| here. The barn coat was a gift from my daughter in | | | | in the summer time. I found it to be clear of snow |
| New York State who understands the word cold. | | | | from the latest warm spell yet the ground was |
| Well, she should. She was raised in Iowa. | | | | frozen. |
| Next I opened the back of my Toyota minivan and | | | | As I bumped along the road I tried to think how I |
| noticed that, although I had my tackle box, I had no | | | | could help Big Foot without any rope. There were |
| fishing pole. | | | | some big pieces of cardboard from flattened boxes |
| I distinctly remembered that I had looked over my | | | | in the back of the Toyota. My scheme was to push |
| collection of a zillion poles and favored the one my | | | | them out to him and then to pull him off the ice. |
| grandkids are not allowed to touch. | | | | We ex-engineers are full of such schemes. |
| But it wasn't there. | | | | My wife says that is not all we are full of. |
| What I did remember to bring was one of those | | | | It took me about an hour to get to him. |
| cheap white chairs made from recycled plastic. I had | | | | Actually, I found him walking up the road. |
| also remembered to bring the new binoculars I got | | | | I jumped out of the car and said, "Thank God you |
| from my wife for my birthday who bought them | | | | are safe!" |
| when I pointed at them in the case at the Big Five | | | | Big Foot said, "Gotcha! |
| Sporting Goods Store in Twin Falls. | | | | What ya' got to eat? |