Monthly Archives: February 2009
A Small Break in Between Fishing Seasons
I couldn’t believe it when I logged in to this blog and discovered that my last post was written almost two weeks ago!
George concluded the Dungeness crab season last week. The boat arrived into port one evening and then left again the next to unload the final delivery of crab. After that, George and the crew all left to retrieve their trucks from Westport, then came home again. Once here for good, they unloaded the crab pots and put them away in the web locker. Next, they put the aluminum shack and tubs of longline gear on the boat for the upcoming halibut and blackcod season.
Just in case anyone was wondering—no, I didn’t receive a bouquet of flowers at my door on Valentine’s Day! I can’t blame George, though. With the stress of the crab season and a very sick little girl at home, I understand that flowers were probably the last thing on his mind.
My sister and brother-in-law came through, however. They surprised me by showing up after their own Valentine’s Day dinner with a brand new bottle of Middle Sister Rebel Red wine and a bag of chocolates. I love the label on the wine because it’s an image of three sisters that looks rather familiar—the sister in the middle wears sunglasses and holds up a glass of red wine. On one side of her is a sister with curly hair and on the other is a sister with straight hair.
Since George got home, I thought I might have a little extra time for my hobbies, but that hasn’t happened just yet. “Who will do the taxes?” George asks when I request a couple of hours. “Who’s going to meet Larry down at the boat?”
It is true that George will only be here for about ten days before heading North for the next fishing season. When you are the guy responsible for organizing the boat and gear, doing taxes, paying the mortgage and a ton of doctor’s bills, you probably don’t have a few hours to spare. At least I get some time off from cooking every meal, unloading all of the dishes, and running all the errands. I’ll take what I can get!
Happy Valentine’s Day
On our first Valentine’s Day together, George was fishing in the Bering Sea and I was at work in an office. I remembered today how surprised I was all those years ago when a gigantic bouquet of big red roses showed up for me as I sat at my desk, along with a gourmet box of handmade truffles. Everyone in the office was pretty excited, especially me. I had never had such an exquisite Valentine’s Day (even if it was long distance)!
George has always been a man of fine taste, though, and generous with his gifts. Although he’s been at sea for every Valentine’s Day we’ve had together, he’s always planned ahead to make sure an impressive bouquet of roses is delivered before the day is over. I remember the way I used to get up on the morning that I expected the roses to arrive and clean the house top to bottom just so I could relax and enjoy the roses in an especially nice setting.
I’m not sure I should expect a surprise delivery at my door this year. If one does show up, I doubt it will be roses; after a Dungeness crab season like this last one, a colorful arrangement of random flowers is more likely!
George really surprised me on Mother’s Day last year, however, by actually hiding a present and card in the house before he left for the halibut and blackcod season in Alaska. That hidden present was one of the biggest surprises I’ve ever received, and the gift was perfect.
Today, I am going to sit down with my little Valentines at home and make cards that we will drive around and deliver to my family. I think that is the best way to spend the day, and I’m looking forward to it. If any surprises show up at my door, I’ll be sure to let you know.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Our Secret Society
Writing and maintaining a regular blog can be difficult. Before I post anything I write, I ask myself a series of questions: “Is that giving away too much?” “Does that expose her?” “Will he be mad?” “Will she understand that?” “Is that too much detail?”
Sometimes I go back and delete (even after it’s been posted) and sometimes I just scratch the whole idea and go with something else. One never wants to come off as whining or complaining, either. Hey, we come from hearty commercial fisherman immigrant stock. We don’t whine, complain, or blame others. We pick ourselves up and soldier forward no matter what (at least, that’s what we try to do).
Anyway, everyone knows that my three-year-old daughter’s pneumonia encountered a sudden complication a week after we thought she was well. The complication isn’t a good one. Nobody can come over, and we can’t go anywhere. It’s like we have dropped off the face of the earth, except for visits to the doctor.
We even talk in a quicker and quieter manner, like we’re conspiring or up to something illegal. Here’s an example of a phone conversation I had just today:
“What do you need?” my mom asked quickly.
“I’ll make a list.” I whispered. “I’ll seal it in an envelope. I’ll tape it to the front door. The envelope will be labeled ‘Mom’.”
An hour later, I left the house to go to the doctor. When I returned, I saw that the goods had arrived. White plastic bags lined the front porch. A glance inside one of the bags confirmed my suspicions: cheese, eggs, milk, and one chocolate cake. Exactly as I suspected.
A tan-colored Jeep pulls in the drive. I spot it from my dining room window. Later, I go to a different window and look outside to confirm that a new bag has been succesfully delivered. Indeed, it hangs innocently from the knob to our front door. Just as I suspected: treats and favors from a good friend’s birthday party Eva recently missed.
I expect that George will be wrapping up the Dungeness crab season very soon. If you’re thinking it was a short season, you’re right. I must say I’m not unhappy to see at least one part of this weird season come to an end.
Steaming full-throttle ahead….(although to where, I’m not exactly sure!)
A Crab Season, a Learning Season.
Yesterday in the mid-afternoon, I began to write a post for this blog. I thought it was pretty funny. It was all about what happened after I posted the delivery pictures last week—the way George received word out on the Coast that the pictures were up, and how he made a dash for his computer, concerned that I may have written or posted something not quite in line with the operation.
I was going to write about how I chuckled at his needless concern and then relayed it to my dad, who laughed and said, “He doesn’t realize you learned from the best.” Of course, I wouldn’t give away fishing grounds, pounds caught, or price received. I know from seasons fishing for my dad in Southeast Alaska (along with my sisters) that the stock answer to any question about fishing is “Okay.” The fishing was okay, the price was okay, the spot was okay. No matter if you caught 100,000 pounds or 10,000 pounds, the answer is always “okay.”
I wasn’t able to write about it, though, because I ended up rushing my three-year-old daughter back to the doctor. As you know, she was recently treated for a serious case of pneumonia and has been ill since September. We have been keeping her away from children and groups as her immune system rebuilds, and I must say I thought we’d done a pretty good job of it and were out of the woods.
Not so. Without going into too much detail, our little one is not quite well and it will be some time before we know how it turns out. George took two days off from the Dungeness crab season on a sort of “emergency” leave to help us deal with the latest, but he will be heading back to sea again all too soon.
It’s been a learning season. I’ve never experienced anything quite like this, and I have been around the block a time or two. I want to give a shout out to each member of my fishing family, who has been amazing in the way of support, relief, help, and love. It’s nice to know that when one of us (or two or three of us) is down, the rest come around and help pick up the slack.
