Re: [VFB] Fishing for a living

[Deborah Duran]

Doug No ...  nothing romantic about it.  I've been meaning to pick up Linda Greenlaws novel The Lobster Chronicles but haven't had the time.  It is a very rough looking group at the docks.  Not an easy life.  I see a lot of yards even in my neighborhood that have old lobster traps stacked against the side of the house left over from some past go of it.  Even the lobster licenses are very hard to come by.  The guys doing the fishing have it even worse.  They are gone for long periods of time and it's very dangerous work.  Think about that the next time you take a bite of swordfish, lobster, tuna, shark or any of the other delicious things you can pick up at the fish counter. Deb ----- Original Message ----- From: Dr. Doug Miller To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 9:11 AM Subject: Re: [VFB] Fishing for a living Deb, You touched the Huemmingway nerve which resides deep within me.     A few years ago, my son and I fished off the coast of Maine and saw firsthand the lobster folks plying their trade.  I mentioned to the guide that I would like to one day spend a couple of months working a lobster boat.  He said two things:  hurry because all too soon there will not be many left; be prepared to earn $5/hour and all the lobster I can eat.     We don't have to look very far to find the hard-livin' folks.  Lobsterfolks are a romantic breed because they are unfamiliar to me; share croppers may be romantic to you for the same reason.  Until we "experience" poverty and hunger it will always retain a "romantic" (in the classical sense) quality that in reality is not there.       I grew up in a Texas oilfield filled with "roughnecks" and "wildcatters."  Right out of a movie like Giant.  To the unfamiliar, it seems epic and romantic.  To my 8 and 9 fingered classmates, to my childhood friends who never finished school because the family needed to pay off crop loans - it is an entirely different story.     And to Gib Combs - who hunted and fished without any regard to licenses and seasons and limits and then distributed that food to those who needed it. . .rest well, my firend!  May you feat at a heavenly banquet table.     Just a thought. . .     Doug