saved by 16 dorados and a book

I was so bored that a trip to Wal-Mart would've been a thrill - and I HATE Wal-Mart. Thankfully, I was spared that fate by an offer of a fishing expedition from a man who has an RV in this park and who comes and goes between here and the States. Even though this meant getting up at 5:00 a.m., I jumped on the invite.

In addition to myself and the boat owner, a Mexican man and his son went too. We headed about 20 miles from shore, the furthest I've been out. The sea was an inky blue - the first time I have ever seen the ocean that color, not here, never on the Oregon Coast. "We"...I had nothing to do with this but I'll use "we" anyway...we had four lines in the water, using plastic squid in different colors as the lure. We trolled for about 15 minutes before the first hits - two of them at the same time. I watched as the men reeled the fish in. Two beautiful Dorados which I have since learned are also Mahi-Mahi and Dolphin Fish. They are stunningly beautiful - shimmery gold and green. In just a few hours we caught 16 fish! Apparently that is an amazing catch, most people happy to get just a couple. Our fish ranged in size from about 10 pounds to 30. On this particular day, the pink lures were the favorite.

Last night I grilled a piece of Dorado and it was incredible. Skin-side down, I spread mayonnaise with lime juice and chili seasoning on the fish, then topped it with chopped up tomatoes, onion, peppers, added salt and more lime juice, wrapped it in foil and grilled it for about 5 minutes. Absolutely amazing; a beautiful fish to catch and to eat.

Another boredom saver was "Theft" by Peter Carey. Oh man, I love Peter Carey and I loved this book, particularly the voice of Hugh, the artist's brother who has some sort of mental handicap and although the author doesn't say what Hugh's diagnosis is, I get a hit of autism. I love the way Hugh thinks and the way Carey uses all caps for emphasis at the oddest times. For instance, "She was now more of the ARTISTIC TYPE with her hair done in the SLEPT-IN-STYLE but just the same she was very friendly." I find myself wanting to use caps sort of willy-nilly although there is a method to Mr. Carey's use of them, a rhythm, a flow, but if you find me jumping into all caps NOW AND AGAIN, you will understand why.

In a week I will drive up to Tucson and fly to Oregon, to visit friends and to deal with my storage unit which contains boxes of books - even boxes of unread books. I will bring at least one box with me to Mexico, keeping boredom at bay until my next adventure which can be something so small as my interaction yesterday with Roberto and Petra, a married vendor couple who came by my place. They admired a big old thermos my daughter had given me ala the one in "The Bagdad Cafe". They thought that would be good for hot food (comida calliente) and I agreed that it would. They said (I think) that thermoses are hard to find in Mexico. So I gave them my thermos. They gave me a basket in exchange. They were so happy. It made my day, along with the Dorado and "Theft". Small things that make up a life.