Talks

 

 

 

"Fishing Vessel Titan - Getting Ready to Head Out"

Canon G7x Mark II
Snapseed

My conversations with Mike (not his real name) continue. I stop up to the fish pier a couple times a week to say hi and talk.. It's colder now and sometimes the pier is windswept which makes things colder still, but even standing out in the cold next to his truck window, the conversations are worth it.    He continues to provide a free education in boats, fish, fisherman, and the fishing industry in general. For this alone I could not repay him.    We've also, after so many conversations, wandered off into so many other topics like family, health emergencies, kids - young kids and grown kids - and the pros and cons of each, the way fruits and vegetables used to taste fifty years ago and the way one could actually smell Gloucester once you crossed the bridge..   Mike made his living as a lumper on the Gloucester fish piers and I was a tech worker at the Joe Big-Ass Corp. He's more than twenty years older than I am. Despite these differences, there are a surprising number of similarities in our outlooks on the world. We have a similar way of conversing too, which I am completely comfortable with - peppered with indignation, loud laughter, wry humor, and a generous serving of swearing. For instance, in  "genteel" company, if I agreed with someone I was talking with, I'd say "I agree with you!" - but with Mike, I can be my true self and say something like "You ain't shittin'!!!"  etc.. You get the picture.. It's a manner of conversation I usually reserve for friends and family. At the end of our talks we usually go through the same ritual: I make him fist bump me (he laughs at this) - I tell him that I appreciate our talks and that I'm glad he's doing good.. He always replies "You never know what will happen tomorrow, kid.. Who knows how much more time we have.." Indeed.. so Buddha-way... so Memento Mori.. and all delivered with a mischievous grin... ~