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Some paths lead to Alaska
Published Friday, November 14, 2008
Alaska scenery seen on the deck of the M/V Baranof
Paul throws a line while working on the Baranof.
A good catch that leads Paul, left, closer to home.
We are one-hundred and eighty thousand pounds from being done with the the
2008 King Crab season. That means I am approximitely ten to fifteen days
from getting on an airplane and heading south. This makes me very happy.
I've been doing some reflecting over the last few days, and I'm reminded
of a documentry I saw on Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristopherson,
and Willie Nelson. It showed their graduation pictures from high school.
Looking at the clean cut young men, you never would have guessed that they
would be considered "outlaws". I think that is in some way true for a lot
of deckhands and I know it is for me. Not really that we are outlaws, but
that when we come up here to fish we really take on a new identity or at
the very least change a little.
When I graduated high school, I wanted to study history at college and
really had no idea what I wanted to do with it. Now some ten years later,
and numerous changes in my life's direction, I'm in the middle of the
ocean at the top of the world doing a job that no more than four hundred
people do. I look at old pictures of myself with an old girlfriend, who I
was sure I was going to marry, or I think about my first day on the job in
Memphis and I was sure I found what I was going to be doing for a while
and I laugh. Its funny, but I guess that is life.
Paul
Comments
Posted by katie (anonymous) on November 15, 2008 at 9:32 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by leesha (anonymous) on November 15, 2008 at 11:15 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by mccrary36703 (anonymous) on November 15, 2008 at 11:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
OK people this is terrible, can we be more careful on what we say on this blog? I know we are the people and we have the freedom of speech, but be caution on how you speak on certain issues. I notice on some comments STJ remove them from the site. OK people be careful, the police may come knocking at your door.
Posted by katie (anonymous) on November 15, 2008 at 12:08 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by mccrary36703 (anonymous) on November 15, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Please Please Please Please PLease PLEASE STOP THIS!!! LETS MOVE ON
Posted by LeighAnn (anonymous) on November 15, 2008 at 1:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
First of all, the difficulty of songwriting is subjective. 50 Cent just put out a "hit" in which he repeats "I Get Money" and "I Run New York" for over 3 minutes. Was that hard to write? Also, I know a five year old that makes up songs all the time. I can assure you she doesn't put much time or effort into it. Obviously, you're a songwriter who doesn't feel they get the praise they need, because, otherwise, you would have used an example that made sense, such as, curig cystic fibrosis.
Second, "I can fish" too, so I guess that means my opinion is also valid. Although I've never fished in the Bering Sea, I'm going to assume that working 20 hour days months on end repeatdly lifting pots that weigh over 100 lbs in freezing weather with frigid, dirty sea water splashing in your face, might be a tad bit harder than sitting by the pond waiting for a few catfish to bite. But that's just my opinion.
Also, being able to work on 3 hours of sleep is called work ethic. If he were smoking meth, he would write like you. Which brings me to my last point, when referring to people or things as idiots, you should consider putting a little effort in grammar.
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