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Published: August 27th 2010
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LUNCH
FINE DINING I’m writing this blog very aware that it could read like some proverbial “Christmas letter” full of bragging and pretty boring and unmemorable. Dear Friend and Reader please use your Christmas etiquette and pretend.
Yesterday, we left our beautiful campsite in Homer and started every so slowly back to Seward. A new friend we met in Homer stated it was hard for her to adjust to big city life (like Homer!) since all her life, time was tied to the tides. The village she grew up in had 12 inhabitants and she was home schooled until she went to the university. We don’t wear watches and our time is tied to when we get hungry. This makes moving slowly and taking lots of pictures easy. It also confuses us when we need to hurry and get into town so we can see the kids before they go to bed. So we had a lovely lunch by some river before we came to Coopers Landing. Fishing had been poor all along the stream so I wasn’t too very frightened about bears joining us as we ate. (I know that I’m more acclimated to Alaska when I see the sign “flush toilets’
LUNCH 2
DICK WANTED TO BE IN THE WATER DOING THE FISHING and get excited. By the way, most stores state “no public restrooms at their front door. I know this is
very banal - but toilet issues have become almost top priority for me on this trip. Dick will talk about the view while I lament a new phase in my life - a fussy bladder. It longs for the previous life where it never worried about how, when, and why out houses.) Well enough of this complaining - the view was stupendous, the talk with my brother was lively and philosophical. Life was grand! On this trip, our life consists of looking at beauty, eating simply but deliciously, and meandering. (Oh yes, and talking - a lot.) On our way back to Seward, Dick got a call from Abbey inviting us out on her charter boat for ocean fishing. Dick jumped at saying YES, and now we had to get back before dark (about 10:30PM) so we could see the kids AND get our beauty sleep. Up at 4:30AM! Ugh.
The next morning we put on layers and layers of clothes. Those big hiking boots that I was told to buy before the trip (ugly, ugly, ugly boots) were
LUNCH 3
PROUD GRANDFATHER WITH ABBEY AND BENJAMIN! put on. They will come in handy, as evidently the deck gets bloody and hosed down. Hope it’s not going to be my blood! At 6:00 AM we board our boat and I’m a little surprised at how small the boat is. Since we’re going out into the ocean I had hoped for something slightly bigger (like the Queen Mary. A few days ago we went to a beautiful and moving Mariner’s Memorial in Homer and I was surprised to learn how lethal boating is. Whole families have been lost.) The crew is Carrie, a very interesting and knowledgeable captain, Abbey, and Benjamin (Dick’s wonderful grandchildren.) Everyone was in high spirits and the other guests are totally delightful.
It took us about 3 hours to get out to Carrie’s preferred spot. The captain is in charge of finding a great “fishing hole”. (Once again, my ignorance is showing. We’re out in the ocean so every “place” looks the same to me!) We start out fishing for Ling Cod with 2 lb weights. This is my 1st time ever fishing and really I had never wanted to meet my dinner. Well, we all get in place and fish. We move to another fishing hole. We drop our lines again but now with 4 lb weights. This fishing pole is very heavy and my herring bait is nibbled off, forcing me to reel up the weights to rebait my hook. Again and again I repeat reel up, rebait, drop back in. This is hard work! Oops! I feel a tug - then a few more. Benjamin tells me to yell, “fish on” and reel it up! I work hard, harder than I have every moved these arms, and about 5 minutes later (it’s deep there so a lot of line to reel up), I’ve caught the biggest halibut on
the record. It’s so big that my name will go in Alaska’s all time record. It’s so big that …!
Since this is my very 1st catch, I am told that I’m supposed to “kiss” the damn thing. Do you know that the bottom of a halibut is a sick looking white, and the top has two eyes on ONE side only of his face? I lean toward the ugly fish when he opens his mouth to bite my head off with his big teeth. Nope, no kiss.
In the end, I catch 2 halibut, the second with Benjamin’s help. I’ve never been so exhausted in my life. We head back to Seward, and for the three-hour return trip, I nod off, mouth open, drooling and snoring. Pretty pose for a Princess. Abbey and Benjamin are still working and will later cut up all the boats’ catch, getting the fish ready to be either shipped home or grilled that night. Our day of fun has been very hard work for the kids; today was a very short day for them of only 14 physically hard hours.
As we nod off into an exhausted sleep, Dick tells me today has been his favorite day. I feel deflated - the Alaska view has been stupendous and my conversation has been brilliant and stimulating. But his best day has been out on a little boat, very cold even with a brilliant shinning sun, reeling in heavy big fish, and beaming as the proud Grandfather of the two most able deck hands showing off their stuff. All the guests have been amazed with them. They are both muscular, able handed, knowledgeable, and completely charming! He has reason to be very proud. Yup, it was his best day. He went to sleep before me and he was still beaming in his sleep!
Life is good!
Marilynl
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