Beer, Worms, and Pie?

It is 8:30 a.m. and still cool out, the sun doesn't come over the hills for another hour or so and then it will get too hot to cook. I'm in the kitchen measuring sugar and tapioca for the much anticipated huckleberry pie when Dad comes in and begins to rummage around in the refrigerator. He is looking for worms. Worms in the refrigerator? These are not just any worms; they are nightcrawlers (sounds really yukky) for fishing. There is a gorgeous little creek (remember: crick) running right through our backyard. It is the North Fork of the Salmon River, and Dad is going to try to catch some rainbow trout for our dinner tonight. Apparently, nightcrawlers are the most effective bait.

Dad is a little perplexed when he finds the white styrofoam container and pulls out of the black dirt only one worm. 'You'll need to get some more worms when you go to the store today' he says. Being raised in Idaho I know you can get worms at the gas station and also at the corner store in North Fork which is about 10 miles down the road. It is where all the river rafters and steelhead fishermen meet for their day's outings. 'At the grocery store?' I query, and I fear I raised the pitch of my voice just a little; as though I thought he was a little nutty. Did he forget I was going into town (30 miles away) to a regular grocery store for regular groceries? 'Yes', he said, as though it were the most usual thing in the world, 'at the end of the stationary aisle there is a small refrigerator where they keep worms. They are cheaper than buying them at North Fork'. Alrighty then. Worms it is - and at the grocery store, where they also sell beer by the way; what could be more convenient!


But here is the good part: Fresh caught trout and huckleberry pie for dinner; ahhhh, summer in the mountains.