The Old Man and the "C"
BY CYNDI GREENING, CHIPPEWA FALLS, WISCONSIN — 
To be totally honest, I am back in Phoenix now but I am wishing I were back in Wisconsin. It's so much cooler up there. I could be on the lake, fishing, with the family instead of hanging out in my little sweat lodge. On Monday, Dad, Sandy, Alec and I went fishing on Big Chetac Lake in northern Wisconsin. Sandy is so competitive, she wouldn't put sunscreen on because she didn't want the smell to rub off on her line and ruin her chances with getting the biggest fish. Good thing she reminded me. I didn't put any on either. She still got the first fish. And then Dad pulled in the second. They were throwing little ones back while Alec and I sat there, drowning bait and feeding the nibblers. They kept trying to make us feel better. "It's awfully windy today," Dad says, "They just aren't too active down there." Plop. He tosses another one in the live cooler. Sandy has a gleeful laugh as she pulls in a big bluegill. She gives Alec jigging lessons. Sandy reminds us that we are due in at 1pm for lunch.
In we go for steaks on the grill, Texas toast and Snickers Salad. That's right. In Wisconsin, they make a "salad' out of Snickers candy bars, apples and a creamy substance (vanilla pudding, maybe, but don't quote me on that). I score politically-incorrect Salt and Pepper Shakers to add to my collection of all things bad. I had a wonderful strawberry shortcake for desert (the Snickers salad was the salad course). After lunch, Alec and I wanted to go back out fishing. It was easy to see that Sandy and Dad were not hopeful. It turns out their hopelessness was well-founded. Dad caught four more. I caught nothing. Alec had a Northern on the line but didn't have his net handy, so the big beast bit through the line and swam away. He had one but couldn't land it. Oh well, we all got lovely sunburns.
