A merry 'spongy' christmas was had

We're back on Emerald Isle just in time for the New Year celebrations. The drive from Florida was uneventful and the 10 hours gave me an opportunity to reflect on our visit to Florida and our visit with my two readers and maybe a third reader in Tarpon Springs. One thing that became obvious during our drive was that it seemed we were heading the wrong direction since most of the traffic was heading South. Lucky for us, it made for an easy drive but made me wonder about the logic of going against the current. Maybe the fish (and the birds) are right about migrating SOUTH for the winter... And we claim to be so smart!

During our stay in Florida we dropped by to visit my sister and her husband in Tarpon Springs, FL. Tarpon Springs is just a few miles north of Tampa but it seemed like a world away when you take some time to explore it's history and read the names on anyone that would be in the Who is Who list of the city. I have a feeling that if you have a Greek surname you'd feel right at home in Tarpon Springs. On Christmas Eve we took advantage of not having little ones in our group so we had a wonderful early dinner (AARP-approved around 4PM) and then went for a nice walk to the historic waterfront. It was perfect since all the shops were already closed by the time we got there and the visit didn't seem as commercialized as everything else seemed on the last few hours before Santa was to arrive from the North Pole. Being Tarpon Springs after all, the walk was a lot about fishing boats, sponge diving and Greek souvenirs, but the town did manage to adapt some of its sights to a more seasonal theme. A very festive-looking sponge christmas tree (go figure). I have to admit that this was my very first Sponge Christmas Tree. I'll keep that in mind for next year's christmas celebration in Emerald Isle... A flounder tree? A bluefish tree? Well, I have a year to think about it.

My brother-in-law must have been bitten by the sponge-diving bug since he has launched a business catering to the SCUBA diving crowd. I just wanted to put a plug-in for them so if my two readers were inclined to go off diving for sponges, or anything else for that matter, they would know where to go.

I was in a rush to get back to the beach to bring some level of control to "all the fish in the Atlantic Ocean". I am happy to report that the water level was still more or less where we left it, but the fish must be going wild since I haven't seen a single fisherman on the surf in the last two days. Yesterday I even equiped myself with more tools (rod, lures) at our friendly outdoors store so the few fish that I caught earlier have become significantly more expensive than before, probably around $40 a pound. Let's think of it as an investment in the future of mankind.

Today I had to get down to the beach for a little while to at least try to fish but sadly my patient wasn't enough to wait for those hungry fish to swallow my bait and I came back empty handed. I could think of many reasons (excuses, really) for not catching anything but probably the heavy surf contributed to my inability to make the connection. I'll try again tomorrow if the temperature continues mild.

To close, here are a couple of pictures of other creatures -of the feathered kind- that I found during our visit to Florida. A Sandhill Crane that my dad and I found walking in a farm nearby. It was part of a family of 4 cranes that were walking around. The other one is a red-tailed Hawk that was looking me over as I got closer to the tree where it was just resting. It didn't seem to be too bothered since it let me take the picture from about 10' away and stayed there until I left.

Big "fish" in Florida

We are visiting my parents in Florida for the end of year holidays. One of my yearly traditions is to visit the manatees as they migrate to the warmer waters of the natural springs in the winter time. OK, not a fish but a good size mammal. Some refer to them as "big globs" but I think they share with us some AARP -qualities so I tend to bond with them quite a bit during our visits. The best location for us to see the manatees every year is in the Blue Springs State Park which happens to be a short distance from my parents's home (my two readers). Today the park had 122 manatee residents and we were able to see a good number of them. The air temperature today was perfect at just around 75F and the water seemed so inviting that I would have taken a plunge if it wasn't for the big signs that warned potential swimmers that this time of the year no one is allowed in the water, and much less trying to get near the manatees.

Of course, manatees are not the only creature that you can see at the springs. There are all kinds of fish, turtles and birds but the main event are the manatees and specially the cows with their nursing calves. This has been a family tradition since my children were very young. They enjoyed the visits a lot more when they were very young, but then as they were growing up other more active attractions caught their eye and it was more of a drag to bring them to the Springs. Still, I managed to beg, pleade or negotiate with any warm body willing to accompany me, so there have been years when it has been only my two readers (before there was even a blog to read) and myself walking on the observation walkways of the park. I know my children will remember the Spring and come to visit them in the future. I just hope there are still manatees visiting to make their visits all the more rewarding. Here is a short video of my visit to Blue Springs State Park.

Another big event of our visit to Florida has been going with my Dad to visit the Flea Market. Apparently he visits this particular Flea Market every Wednesday rain or shine. It occupies quite a large area and you can find just anything from guns and ammo to sharp knifes to peel the bontiful fruits from the many fruit and vegetable stands. For me the interesting thing was the cultural enlightment that one can have as I walked down the aisles. I do have to admit that there seemed to be a lot of friendly fishermen around but I have a feeling that I would make a more impactful connection if I were to brand a few tasteful tatoos. I'll consider that for my next visit next year. Definitely quite the cultural experience. Here is just a collage of a few of the sights I got to see.

Visit to Durham, NC

Since the Thanksgiving weekend we’ve been in the Durham, NC area three times. First for the holiday celebrations, and then to visit Nando and the ensuing ceremonial events that follow. In between times I’ve been dealing with the ongoing home repair projects and these continue on, even in my absence. At least I hope so.

I drove back to Durham on Wednesday evening and timed the drive so I could pick up B at the RDU airport around 10PM and head to the Governors Inn (now a Radisson hotel) in RTP, where we have been for the last three days.

It’s unfortunate that we have to travel away to really value what we leave behind. Our setting here at the hotel is not all that bad, but it’s definitely not the same. The look out the window is not the Atlantic Ocean, but Interstate 40. If I want to see dolphins surfacing, I don’t pick up a pair of binoculars, instead I turn on the TV to the Discovery channel. A bike ride to the Post Office would be more like planning an expedition to climb Everest. But it is, what it is.

It reminds me of the 24+ years that we lived in this area. I am now associating the RTP area with work. I don’t mean that in a negative way, but just that the whole area looks so “corporate” to me that it almost feels foreign.

On Thursday, I had a routine dentist appointment with my old dentist. Since it was a rather cold day (High of 40F), I decided to walk to the dentist’s office which is around a mile and a half from the hotel. I knew that there was a nice paved trail around the RTP so it’d be an easy walk. Just getting out of the hotel to the street was quite a hike with the huge front yard between the street and the building. Once on the trail I felt at home, however I couldn’t help to notice that I didn’t see a single person on the trail that morning. Maybe it was too cold, or maybe it’s just that our lives in this corporate world are just so busy that walking a mile or two is something that just doesn’t fit our busy lives. Or maybe my new AARP-approved walking schedule (11AM), does not harmonize well with the corporate mindset. Who knows?

Out our hotel window we look over the hotel parking lot and beyond that a row of pine trees that separate us from Interstate 40. Now that the leaves of the smaller deciduous trees have fallen, I can see the rows of cars zipping heading east or west on the lanes beyond. In the off-peak times the cars seem to be zipping by but during the two rush-hour periods of the day, they go considerably slower. I wonder if they are heading to their respective Post Offices or maybe late to some fun activity, or maybe the daycare is about to close. Who knows? But I only know that there are not many flowers to smell along the way on Interstate 40.

The passing of Nando, and maybe my new responsibility of having to control all the fish in the Atlantic Ocean, have made me slow down and forced me to smell the flowers along my way. Actually the process may have started even earlier when B and I decided to leave Chapel Hill, NC after 24 years. The process of downsizing. Getting rid of all the stuff that you were so proud to accumulate for years. The act of questioning the value and utility of every petty little thing. Will I ever use this jar of old screws? Never mind that I haven’t needed them in 20 years. Will I have room for them in our new home? Do I want to put them in a moving box and carry them along? It turned out to be quite liberating after all. From our four-bedroom Chapel Hill house moving to a one-bedroom apartment in Durham turned out to be the most invigorating thing we had done in years. And now a lot lighter, we feel content to camp out two or more months at the beach house or even two or more weeks in a hotel room anywhere.

Quite often my mind wonders to Nando’s sudden departure. I am envious of all the deeply religious folks around the world, who would quickly respond to the question of where Nando is right now. Is he facing the pearly gates? Or is his soul going to be recycled to another living being? Is he surrounded by a cluster of virgins or is he negotiating his way out of purgatory? If what Nando is now still have some level of conciousness, he should already know what mankind has been searching for ever since we have had some thinking capacity. What happens behind the curtain of death?

Sorry, I got distracted again... Back to fishing.

Farewell to my friend

It’s been a very long week, and it’s only Tuesday. Last week was Thanksgiving weekend and we visited Durham, NC to be with family and friends for the holiday.

One of the friends that I intended to see was my dear friend Nando. I have known Nando since 1965 when I lived in Panama. And with the exception of about 10 years when I went to college and graduate school, I have been in very close proximity to him, his wives and daughters. Of course, once you are married and have jobs, getting together gets a little more challenging, but we kept in touch with each other regularly, if not at our homes, then in parks, beaches, restaurants, and our “guys” vacation when we managed to get together with our third “partner-in-crime” Rafa, and go off traveling, camping and fishing in the countryside of Panama and Costa Rica. We have done this at least three times in the last 10 years and had been planning to have our next outing, with the wives this time, for carnival 2008 in Panama. I could really go on and on about how our lives have been intertwine in so many ways.

Everyday that I was in Durham, I tried to reach Nando, but his cellphone sounded disconnected, his home number went unanswered. Finally an employee of his restaurant informed me that Nando had not shown up for work since returning from a vacation trip to London, UK and she thought that Nando was ill somewhere. I called the three major hospitals in the area and was relieved when neither of them recognized his full name. Just as B and I were getting ready to return home on Saturday morning, I received a call from Nando’s wife who told me that Nando was indeed at Durham Regional Hospital in Durham. She told me that he was not doing well, that after their arrival from the UK he had been admitted to the hospital but she wanted Nando to be the one to tell me what the doctors were speculating about his ailment.

I remembered that three days before their UK trip, a little over two weeks ago, Nando had called me to explain why he hadn’t returned my calls from the previous week, and about his plans for their upcoming trip. The week before, he had several episodes of a very terrible gastric-reflux or indigestion. He also mentioned that he had been feeling weak with a lot of muscle soreness. To the point that he didn’t have the strength to pick up the phone to speak. A couple of days of that previous week, he had come home from the restaurant after the lunch rush hour, and plopped in bed “until the next morning”. He explained that his doctor couldn’t figure out what could have been going on. And that after several tests, they had found H. pilori in his stomach and had started treatment with an antibiotic. It all seemed confusing and not well defined at the time, however Nando sounded optimistic with the promise that once the H. pilori had been “knocked down”, he would start feeling better. At least good enough to travel to the UK in just 4 days. Something else that I didn’t know was that during the week prior to their UK trip, he had undergone a couple of endoscopic tests. Neither test shed new light on the matter, but there was the issue of some “pink coloration” on the wall of the stomach, but this could have been explained by the amount and type of medications Nando had been taking to help with the heartburn, the sore muscles and the tiredness.

I left immediately to the hospital for a brief visit. Thinking of what I would like to receive if I was in a hospital for a week, naively I decided to stop along the way to pick up some magazines on topics that would be of interest to him. Little did I know that on a hospital bed, you are in no condition to be reading or even flipping through the pages of a magazine. The door to Room 7113 was closed. I knocked and opened the door. I saw his wife and eldest daughter sitting and they offered a welcome smile. Then I saw him laying on his hospital bed surrounded by pillows and with the TV on although he seemed to be sleeping. He had several IV lines dripping to his left hand, and had some soaked gauze pads where his blood had continued to leak after the many blood draws of the day.

It turned out that he was awake. He hadn’t been able to sleep well in the last two weeks. And even eating had been a struggle for him after the heartburns of three weeks ago. He opened his eyes when he heard my voice; however his facial expression remained the same. He was so weak, that he couldn’t speak and maintain eye contact at the same time. He spoke with his eyes closed. I could barely understand him. But he made several points that showed me that he was completely lucid and well aware of his surroundings. He seemed to be very interested in his “numbers”. The numbers referred to his blood chemistry results. The first blood test after being admitted on Monday, indicated that his blood chemistry was “all out of whack”.

His wife was telling me about the different ideas the doctors now had. First they proposed mononucleosis, then hepatitis, then Nando interrupted with “sickle-cell anemia”. “So, what is it now?” I asked. She asked Nando for his permission and he nodded for her to continue. She could barely contain her tears when she said “leukemia”. The words resonated heavily in the room. I caught myself starting an “Oh my God” reaction, and quickly changed my tone to question instead the evidence for that diagnosis. Apparently Tuesday's Bone Marrow Test had shown indication of leukemia although they were still waiting to see which type of leukemia and hoping and praying that it was the more benign and treatable one.

The nurse walks in and breaks through the tenseness. Nando asked her about the results of his latest blood chemistry analysis. She said something like “platelets are at fourteen hundred” although I’m sure she meant to say “fourteen thousand”. In any event, just a few hours earlier they had been searching the Internet for leukemia blood chemistry numbers where it mentioned that platelet numbers below 20,000 would be very dangerous. You could tell in Nando’s face that the 14,000 number was something to worry about. A moment later, she walks in again and mentioned that she wasn’t sure about those numbers, nor whether today’s tests were already analyzed. Nevertheless, the damage was already done.

I talked quietly with his wife for a few minutes and we noticed that Nando had fallen asleep with the noise of our voices. He woke up after about 20 minutes and remarked that he had been able to sleep a little and smiled. We celebrated his accomplishment.

Minutes later a nurse walks in announcing that a new, bigger, private room had been arranged for him and that we could start moving whenever we were ready to. Nando’s legs were swollen to the point that to the touch they seemed to be ready to burst and we joked that he had always wanted to have “big legs”. It could have been funny at some other point in our lives, but this time it didn’t face him. Apparently the Sodium from some of the liquids being pumped through his veins, had caused him to swell and the doctor asked to have them replaced to help him return to a normal size. As we were getting ready to move him, we started picking up a few personal items from the room and then Nando asked for help to sit down on the bed. His legs were so heavy, and he was so weak, that it required our help to move him. One of the last things he told me, was that it was OK for me to touch his swollen legs. Almost like saying, this body is not mine anymore, my personal space is no longer enforceable.

He could have been moved by bed but the option of moving him by wheelchair gave me the feeling that Nando was going to be alright after this. After getting the legs on the floor, he actually stood on his own and turned around to sit on the chair. The nurse pushed him, and alongside I carried the rolling pole with the IV bags still connected to his arm. Once in Room 5327, we reversed the process and helped him move his legs in position on his bed once again.

After a few minutes, I sensed that my presence there could be causing a little anxiety since Nando may have felt the need to entertain me. I reassured him that he didn’t need to worry about me, that I was happy to get the full story from his wife, but still I could sense that he was already feeling even more tired than before. So I prepared to say my goodbyes to the women in the room and then I turned to Nando and told him that I’d be waiting for him to play some basketball or at least a game of chess when he got home. He didn’t reciprocate the jokes, but I never thought that when he opened his eyes to say farewell, it was going to be our last goodbye.

The next day, around 3 in the afternoon, already at home at the beach, I received the terrible news from his wife: a nurse checking his vital signs, tried to wake him up around 3AM that Sunday, and found him unresponsive. He was rushed to get an CT Scan and then to the ICU. They found that Nando had internal bleeding in the cranial cavity and had gone into a comma. She said that the doctors gave him little chance but she was hoping for a miracle.

We arrived around 9PM and went directly to the ICU. Amazingly they allowed us in and I went to see the Nando I was going to see for the next couple of days. High tech instruments all around him. Tubes coming out of his mouth. Several IV lines pumping liquids into his veins. Several “drip” tubes to collect the draining from his skull. And the worse was the sight of his chest moving up and down as the air from the artificial lung pumped air in and out. This was definitely a turn for the worse. I was stunned of what I saw and was petrified for the first few minutes there. We tried to talk to him as normal as was possible. His wife mentioned that she had heard that the hearing was the last thing that died, so we wanted to sound optimistic for a hopeful outcome.

The scene of us and other family and friends going in and out of the ICU was repeated over and over for the next two days.

This morning, the hospital called his home and explained that Nando’s blood pressure was dropping and that they would not be able to keep him in the ICU beyond a certain point. We all rushed to the hospital and paid our individual visits and said our goodbyes. His blood pressure continued to steadily drop slowly during the day and around noon, his blood pressure dropped to the point that his heart stopped beating on its own.

Goodbye my friend and soul brother. Your life was brief but full. You touched so many of us, and we will never forget you. Go in peace.

Cold weather means painting indoors

I'm finally getting busy with several of the home improvement/maintenance jobs that I had set myself to do this winter. After a few weeks of stalling the painting project with all kinds of excuses, I finally could not find any other delaying-tactic so I had to start the project. So the last few days, I have been busy indoors and haven't done much outside. Of course, the 'cold' weather is not cold enough to prevent us from doing our regular morning walk or the mandatory visit to the post office, but nevertheless is not warm enough to want to hang outside for too long.

Weather wise, last Thursday (11/15) was rather stormy. It rained part of the day and the waves were quite impressive. I'm trying this quick video from my digital camera to see how this works. It is looking from our deck. If you put the volume up, you'll hear the raindrops from the rain in the background. Let's see how this works.

A day later (Friday) the ocean looked like a lake again and it delighted us with a very nice looking sunrise. The weekend was again very peaceful and surprisingly warm. But of course, part of it I was stuck inside the house doing the painting in preparation for the next home improvement project which will get started after the Thanksgiving weekend, more about that later.

Again there was a beautiful sunset looking West over the Bogue Inlet Pier from our house. That's one nice thing about Emerald Isle. The island runs pretty much East-West and during the winter months we get to see both the sunrises and the sunsets.

I got to go now, there is a lot of commotion on the beach again. Maybe there will be a bluefish on our Thanksgiving table. Definitely something to be very thankful about.

"Dirty Laundry" in Paradise

I just took this picture of the sunset a few minutes ago. It's now 7PM and it's already quite dark. Outside, the Harrier Jets are still busy practicing night landings and they fly slowly over our sky with the roar of their powerful engines. During the day they are fun to watch, but at night, they make everything shiver... even the bones.

The sunset picture above I took while I was making another attempt at securing lunch for the next few days. This time I was a little less confident so I took 2 finger mullets with me. I still haven't tried any of the 'new' rigs that the fishing mafia gave me on Saturday. They seem to be a little more involved and right now, I just want to get something quickly and I know the finger mullets have worked for me before. The surf was a little active, not as calm as it has been in the last few days. However, with air temps in the low 70s, it was easy to be there just watching the sea birds as they also tried to secure their next meal.... We were definitely "bonding", or maybe it was "competing" for the same lunch. Enough of that! OK I have to admit that I don't seem to have the patience of a true fishermen. I may need a little more than the waves to get me to stay here. After a few minutes I was going bunkers about watching the waves, the water and the &%*$@ birds, etc. "Enough of that" I said, and headed to the house to better equip myself. I came back to the beach with an MP3 player with a built-in FM tuner, a digital camera, a magazine and a cell phone. That should keep me busy if I get bored again. In no time I was fishing again and to my surprise I felt a now all too familiar jolt on my line. Not quite a sea monster this time, but something nevertheless. I gave it the usual tug and in a second I was pulling the line with a fish attached to the other end. This time I had no audience or coach to celebrate with me. I almost lost the &%*$@ fish looking back to see if my wife was looking over, but nothing. Now I know how our children felt when they were at bat in their little league baseball games. Always looking to make a connection with our eyes to make sure they had an audience. That's exactly how I felt. Anyhow, without the audience, I had to beach the beast, well, the little fish, otherwise I would have lost my rigs (that's fisherman speak for pole and hooks). Another bluefish! This one was not as large as my prize-holder but a close second. Not bad for almost pulling my last few strands of hair just a few minutes ago.

And now to air the "dirty laundry". I wanted to test the "survey" feature of this blog so you have a chance to vote for some fun. The survey can be found in the top right corner of this blog.

Today was a warm day (74F), and as usual we went on our early morning power-walk. My wife and I, wait, I should say "my dear" wife and I are having a little difference of opinion on the goal of the early morning walks. She enjoys "contributing to society" by picking litter from every street, trail, path or waterway that we may encounter along the way. She is now leaving the house with a plastic trash bag and starts stopping at the sight of the smallest piece of litter that she could spot. She gets a thrill of picking the trash with the hopes of single-handedly cleaning the whole island and maybe the whole country if allowed. I agree with doing such a civic-minded activity, but alternating a fast walk with stopping to dig for trash, is not my idea of a cardio-workout. I have agreed to do some of that, but if we select maybe one day of the week for picking litter and the rest for exercising. She sort of agreed with me but just today she sneaked a bag and finding litter on a nearby street, she couldn't help herself and produced a bag who knows from where. My reaction was, well, she's on her own. I'll just keep on walking and will see her at home. And so it happened. But I feel cheated since the early morning walk is my favorite time of the day, and now it's either a lonely-power-walk or a bonding-sanitary-tour of the city. Maybe my two readers can help. If you have an opinion and want to share it with us, answer the 'survey' in the right column. Let's see how this works.

Veteran's Day

Our commemorations of the Veteran's Day began on Sunday afternoon. Entrance to the NC Aquarium in Pine Knolls Shores, NC is free on two days of the year: Veteran's Day and MLK Day. Given that the our new "AARP-approved" budget encourages me to be frugal (some would say, even more so than before), we took advantage of the ocassion to visit the aquarium. It had been closed for renovations for almost two years and I had been curious about the improvements ever since they reopened last spring. Besides, I'd like to be able to recommend the site to visitors in case they wanted to find something else to do besides fishing. The entrance fee is $8.00 per adult so I also wanted to make sure it was worth that much and not just another tourist trap along the way.

We took the short drive pass the eastern end of Emerald Isle, then passing through the small town of Indian Beach and finally to Pine Knolls Shore. It was about 10 miles from our house.

Even before we walked in, we were quite impressed with the lay out of the parking area, the fountains and landscaping. Once inside, the exibits and the huge tanks with all kinds of of aquatic life were very impressive. Belinda stayed watching some freshwater turtles for what felt like half an hour, but each of the tanks could have kept us there all that long. Definitely a "Highly recommended" rating to the aquarium.

Since it was such a nice day we continued on for a quick drive around Morehead City and Beauford and made it home before dark.

Veteran's Day was a definitely different. For one thing, the Post Office was CLOSED!!! Talk about changing my whole routine. I tell you, this is not as easy as it seems.

To make the day more memmorable, the weather behaved very nicely with highs in the low 70Fs. Water temperatures now just below 60F and mild SW winds. It almost felt like a holiday with all the visitors taking advantage of the beach. One of our neighboring house had about 10 SUV or Pick-up trucks parked on their dryway. It seemed as if everyone of the passengers had a fishing station with a few fishing poles.

For a while I thought I was going to give the fish a break for the holiday, but just as the sun was setting I rushed out of the house with ONE finger mullet on one hand. On the way down the stairs I grabbed the fishing pole, a plastic chair and my bucket. It turned out to be a bit too optimistic to carry only one piece of bait. In no time I lost one piece to the surf and the other I lost after having a short battle with a "huge beast" that ate my bait but which was able to set itself free. I'm sure it was a huge creature of the sea.... but we will never know since it is still out there.

Man, I'm getting good at lying about the size of fish... I am surprised how easily I was able to keep a straight face.... I must be becoming a good fisherman after all.

Weekend Visitors

Things were looking a little slim on the fishing front. I tried to get the finger mullets for the last three days and apparently kept picking up the wrong times of the day. Mike the next door neighbor, keeps telling me that they are there, but I just don't time it right. Apparently I also need to "invest" in some boots or waiters because it's tough to throw the casting net from the shore if at the same time I'm trying to stay dry. The water temperature is down to 61F so getting in the water barefooted is getting tough. However, if I do the math, every pound of fish that we have eaten thus far, has been an "investment" of about $30/pound. If I need to add more stuff, the cost per pound is just going to keep going up. Unless, of course, if I were to spend the whole day fishing (and catching).

Saturday morning was again another brisk morning. This time there was a constant NW wind which made the air feel colder than what it was (mid-40s).

The highlight of the weekend was the visit of friends from our former home in the Research Triangle Park area. Cheryl and her mother paid us a nice visit from Saturday to Sunday. And also, friends from the old mothership (GSK, my employer for almost 20 years, the same employer that unilaterally decided to let me free which in turn allowed me to become a full-time resident of Emerald Isle), were going to stop over for the night on their way to Davis, NC.

Howard and Chris arrived late in the afternoon and found me at the beach fishing. Mike had just pulled two bluefish with his double hooked line and had offered them to me since he was getting ready to leave the next day. As Mike and them were unhooking the bluefish, my rod was moving as if getting hit. Sure enough, with a quick pull, I secured another bluefish onto my line and was able to pull it in as well. Perfect timing as I now had witnesses from members the "fishing mafia" that could attest to my newly acquired skills.

A little background is in order. For years, "the fishing mafia" has been planning and making Fall Fishing trips to some of the outer banks isolated islands. They go to Davis, NC and from there take a ferry to Ocrakoke where they spend a few days fishing, drinking and plotting how to maintain their exclusivity. To qualify for this trip, one has to attain high levels of "fishing skills", and other "undefined qualities". The point is that I have been begging to get invited, but somehow... it hasn't happened :) Trying to figure out a way to increase my chances, we bought this beach house a few years ago, and it's finally paying off as a place to spend the night on the way there. I'm thinking that the next step will be to buy myself a ferry system.

After dinner, I proposed a visit to the Bogue Inlet Pier, less than a mile away, to see what others were catching. I thought the "mafia manly men" would enjoy roughing it out . They both agreed to go out but to my surprise, Howard went to his room to get "warm clothing" including gloves! and then as I walked out of the house, I see Chris moving his truck as if planning to "drive to the pier". I couldn't believe my eyes... these fishing mafia members were not as roughed as I expected. I' was sure that the Godfather (Vinny) would prove me wrong when he arrived. There was not much going on at the pier so we walked back home (on the street this time). Vinny and Curtis found us on the way, a few blocks from the house.

After settling in the house, we closed one side of the house and started the fishing lessons. All to increase my chances in the future. I learn how to tie a line knot to secure the lures, how to set up a 'drum' lure, how to secure the bait in the hook. There were descriptions of body parts and procedures that I'm not sure if they are appropriate for a blog of this nature. I even think some of those procedures could be illegal in a few States of the Union. Besides, I would hate to offend one of my two readers with language of that nature (sorry Mom). Anyhow, lessons were taught, and information transferred. Now is up to me to execute the learnings.










On the left is a picture of the Godfather himself. Of course, to protect his secrecy, (and my skin), his face cannot be shown.












Early in the morning (at least early in my new life), the crew left the house under the shadow of the darkness.




Another note of interest is that this morning, Mike packed up his car and was on his way back to Roanoke. The fish will have a break from Mike at least for a full year. Below is picture of Mike making a few last attempts to connect with a fish this morning.

I expect this next week is going to be a little tight on fish. Mike is not going to be there to "share" with some extra fish, and also, I expect that the "fishing mafia" is going to catch everything heading South, so I'll only see whatever fish they miss. I may have to figure out how to cook seagulls in case fishing doesn't pan out. There are plenty of those around.

Brisk but peaceful morning

Sunrise came in about 6:30 this morning. Another beautiful day at the beach... Are they ever not beautiful? Well, maybe when I'm worried about the storms, beach erosion, NE winds, hurricanes, low fishing yield... Speaking of fishing yield, we are in our third day of the bluefish from Monday and I haven't taken the time to go out there. I don't even have finger mullets (bait) to get our next meal. Oh well, must go out before the end of the day.

It's not all fun and games though. Yesterday I spent some time at the hardware store nearby and bought myself 5 gallons of paint and a few paining tools. All that means, there is work ahead. But of course, no need to rush into that just yet. There is still a lot of fishing expeditions, and a lot of visits to the post office between here and there.

My wife has been praising the outcomes of the kitchen in the last three days. The bluefish yielded some very good meals and we found it quite tasty. My challenge was to present it in three different ways so that we don't ge tired of the same old fish. Day one, I prepared the bluefish with coconut milk, the second day was bluefish steamed in a foil tent in the oven and today, we just had it in curry sauce. I can't get her to commit on which way she liked it best but from the look of her comments, all three days were big hits.

This is a picture of the curry sauce version. The bluefish is the one at the top position on the plate. The bottom position is cuban congri which is a mixture of rice and black beans very seasoned, prepared in the oven and topped with reduced red onions. To supplement those two I steamed some cabbage and addedred onions soften in olive oil and mixed with white vinegar at the end to give it a little acidity.

The whole meal experience received another thumbs up from my wife. The pressure continues to see if I can keep the streak going.

However, I better get busy on the fishing department, otherwise there will not be lunch tomorrow.

Soon after lunch we rushed out on our cruisers to make a quick visit to the post office as usual.

And of course, made it back quickly to watch the dolphins graciously swimming west just beyond the beach. I know what you're thinking... life is rough. I know.

Dinner is served...

What difference a day makes here at the beach. Yesterday the winds from the SW were making huge waves and even though it was quite warm, the winds made it difficult even to ride our bicycle to the usual daily errands (post office, supermarket, etc.). Today, we wake up to a very peaceful scene. The ocean looked more like a lake than the choppy seas that we experienced the last few days.









This is more like it! Nice and peaceful.









It's been the first really cold day here at the beach. This morning the air temperature was around the high 30s and it felt like in the teens with the wind. However mid-day it was already in the high 50s so it wasn't that bad after all. Our house neighbor, Mike from West Virginia, has been more faithful fisherman than I have, and he was already there at high noon. The tide was low and it was the middle of the day. Supposedly the worst conditions to catch a puppy drum, but after a few minutes visiting him at the beach, he starts pulling this 24 inches puppy drum, his second in the last three days. Mike got his measuring tape and quickly declared it "legal size". He was a very happy camper.
When I saw that, I felt the urge to get out there and catch myself one of those, or at least something that I could bring home to show the wife. I had just one finger mullet left in my cooler and decided to split it into two pieces and use it to try to catch something. After a few casts, I felt this jolt of a bite and started reeling. The beast (sounds more dramatic this way), gave me quite a battle. It was spinning my reel on and on until we finally got a glimpse of it (the beast). Mike saw the dorsal fin and thought it was a small shark. I was disappointed thinking that I was going to have to deal with a shark. However was pleasantly surprised a few seconds later when we got another view of it. This time it was clear that it was some sort of bony fish. I managed to bring it to the shore and after tossing around some, he was kind enough to pose for this picture:

Well, maybe not a beast, but my current prize winner at around 17 inches. Not a puppy drum, but with a high potential of becoming dinner.

NE Winds and Wave action from Noel

Wave action from Noel and strong NE Winds hit Emerald Isle.

It's fascinating to get to see the power of nature from our vantage point. The NE winds today are between 20-30 mph and since we have the ocean to the South of us, the waves are almost pushed back by the wind. On the other hand, the waves are nothing to sneeze at. The waves are strong from the winds of Noel, a tropical storm that is heading N-NE passed the NC coast.

Inspite of the winds, the temperature has remained pleasant in the low 70s, and not a drop of rain has been associated with the storm thus far. All in all another relaxed day at the beach. I must say we lucked out, once again. When you look at the news reports from the Dominican Republic and Haiti, I don't even feel like bragging about how lucky we were knowing that those less fortunate, got the brunt of the storm. Isn't that the way it seems to work most of the time? But let's not get going on that rabbitt hole... that's the topic for a future post.

Feeding Frenzy Fishing Flogger

The Stop Net on Emerald Isle, NC

Oct. 30th, 2007

Hey look! What's going on down the beach? It looks like a highway of vehicles, mostly trucks, driving rapidly East on Emerald Isle beach. They all stopped at the 7000 block and were lining up by the beach. I'm at the 7300 block so I walked down to the beach and then along to beach to figure out what was going on. As I approached the parking lot (otherwise known as the beach), I see that several of the trucks are already filled with fish to the point of spilling out of the trucks beds. Then I see it.

A net going out from the beach a few hundred yards into the Atlantic Ocean hanging from a floating ball on one end and attached to an old tractor on the beach end. I learned that this is what they called a "stop net", I guess mostly because it stops the migrating fish as they go on their way South, or West in the case of Emerald Isle, the nets catch a migrating group, the fishermen go around with a net from behind and beach the catch and then pick the fish into baskets and then onto the trucks. All in all, there were at least 20 people in the operation, they were quite busy fighting the suft and keeping the net up to prevent the hundreds of jumping mullets from leaving the enclosed area. As they approached the beach, the nets were so heavy that it required the heavy work of several men.

Later on, I Googled the "stop net" concept and found out that this is something that has been going on for quite a few years, carried out by a few families here in the Bogue Banks of North Carolina. Read their story in this 2002 account of the Stop Net in Bogue Banks. Apparently here is the only place on the Atlantic Coast that this is happening. However, I certantly didn't see anyone "official-looking" checking things out but I hope someone knew what was going on. When the nets came in, the pickings (of fish) began. I even got some fish to bring home... I didn't realize they didn't want to keep blues, so I brought three small fish and prepared them for dinner. Not bad, although I was told that they don't keep well, so the fresher the better. This was as fresh as they get.... from the beach to the oven.

Well, that was my first fishing experience in Emerald Isle, well, there were fish involved weren't there? And I did catch them. It was more like picking it up from the ground, but whose counting.

I've been here in E.I. for a week now. Fishing is going to be done by default since I happen to be right in front of a huge body of water (Atlantic Ocean), and as I understand it, that body of water happens to be full of fish... And let me not forget, that now that I'm retired (read unemployed), and will need to supplement our diet with some free protein -"free" being the operative word.

Enough for today, got to get my fishing gear ready... Let's stop the feeding frenzy fishing flogger today.