P.E.I.

Halifax, Nova Scotia; I like the routine I”m in, even if it is boring. I haven’t been on a scale but I’m losing weight and that wasn’t happening in Missouri. Last night I took my belt off and my pants fell down without unbuttoning the fly. I’m taking more time off to explore but gasoline here is approaching $6/gal. and I plan my travel diligently. A typical day includes two hard hours in the pool and the gym, then a nap and lunch. Afternoons slip by in the library, reading, writing, catching up. I get plenty of down time, just never know when it’s going to strike. But then I can entertain myself with a  rubber band and a clothes pin. 

Just spent three days up on Prince Edward Island, about the size of New Jersey; They farm and fish there; in summer it’s a popular vacation destination. The beaches are pristine and it looks like the 1950’s when you go out in the countryside. Small, neat & clean family farms with hills and winding, two lane roads give it a wholesome feeling. Stayed at a B&B in Summerside (big city of 15,000).

Low tide of course, I went out on a headland that juts out into the sea. Red sandstone, red sand, red beaches; looked like a bazillion clay flower pots, ground into dust. I made my way out to water’s edge, maybe a hundred yards from the beach. You watch where you put your feet as kelp and sea weed were everywhere and a slip would either break the camera or make me bleed. I was careful. 

The scenery didn't offer many good photos so I began searching between rocks and in small, shallow, land locked pools. Not much there until, “Eureka!”. Right beside my foot in about an inch of water, a starfish, about the size of a silver dollar. I was excited as a little kid; took a photo, then bent over and picked it up. It grabbed on, hung onto my finger while I checked it out, Phylum Echinodermata, radial symmetry; oh my, too many Biology classes. Then it occurred to me; if there was one starfish trapped by the low tide, there must be more. So I start looking and they were easy to find once I knew what to look for; not very colorful but you can’t miss the shape. But they move faster than you might think. In nature, little creatures hide from the big ones. While I was off collecting, they crawled up under the vegetation. As I added to my little herd, I had to keep moving them back to the middle of my seaweed corral. I thought about Gene & Roy, rounding up stray cows, with Gabby Hayes fixing beans and biscuits back at the chuck wagon. For about five minutes I forgot everything and was on the range, herding little doggies. Reality caught up with us; the tide turned, I took another photo and headed back to the beach. I loved it.

The next day I went up the other side of the island; up to where the fishing boats were working lobster and tuna. A tuna boat only gets to take one fish per day. I was hanging out with the guys who work the wharf, in their big rubber boots and yellow rubber raincoats. A boat came in with it’s one fish; weighed in at 608 lbs. They hoisted it off the boat with an electric winch; cut off the head and fins. After it was cleaned it weighed 496 lbs. They said it would be in Tokyo in 48 hours where it would bring $15/lb. at the fish market. I did the math and was impressed. It takes cleaning fish to another level and it was a learning experience but not near the fun as herding starfish.