The Old Man and the Sea

It was an "activity" day when it was too cloudy to fly after we'd had had three days of endless joy, and I hitched a ride into town to get an ice bag and pain relief for my swollen knee, and spread a little money around to help stimulate the devastated economy of Cordova. After buying some books in the neat little bookstore, I wondered over to a little ice cream joint to see if they had my favorite, Jamoca Almond Fudge, and when I walked in, I heard a familiar voice I couldn't place immediately. Looking around the corner, there was this big burly redneck looking guy, watching "The Ed Show" which I enjoy occasionally. I was surprised and commented on it and he said "Oh yeah, I love this guy!" which was even more surprising and we got to talking, about progressive politics and the Exon Valdez oil spill. He's a captain of a fishing trawler who used to make a nice living pulling tons of Herring out of Prince William Sound. They're gone now, and no one knows where they went or when they might ever come back. Theory is that they can sense the oil still coating the bottom of the Sound from far out to sea, and just won't even come near the area yet. They were an integral part of the food chain, and without them, a lot of other species don't come around much anymore. Exon Mobil finally payed him for one year's lost catch after years of litigation and appeals, and so far, he's lost 20 year's income and he was one pissed off fisherman!!

I cautiously asked him what locals thought about "The Quitter" and he said "Who?" and when I repeated it he said "Oh, you mean the "Half Governor!" and he told me the story about when she was running for Governor and came to town. His good friend and fellow boat captain who he stayed up with late into the nights arguing politics went to see her at the little local watering hole and came back just raving about her. When he asked his friend what her positions were on any number of issues he kept getting the same answer. "Well, I don't know where she stands on that, but she sure is good looking!" Over and over again, all he could say about her was how good looking she was and it was then that he realized "we're in deep doodoo with this gal!" She got elected only because the past Democratic governor had been so corrupt that nobody could vote for him!!

We then got into Woodstock and the Monterey Pop Festival and how we were both in NYC at the time and he was so bummed he missed Woodstock and I was so glad I did, what a muddy mess that was, and I had been to Monterey and nothing would ever top that! He looked a lot older, but we were about the same age.

He did thank me for coming to ski in their mountains, before the oil spill no one had thought to develop that area into a heli-skiing destination, and it was helping a lot to stimulate their local economy, but nothing like the lost fishing revenues. His biggest regret was all of his fellow fisherman who had died penniless before the settlement was settled for 10% of what the original court case had imposed.

It's been heartbreaking to watch the developments in the Gulf of Mexico since I've come home (now named the Gulf of American because, your break it, you own it!) knowing full well the long term impacts this will have and the unlikely compensation that will be paid to all those suffering from it's effects. Dig six inches down anywhere on the coast of Prince William Sound and you still come up with oil, 21 years after the disaster!!

But the skiing was spectacular!!!