As I sat down to write this week's post, art was the furthest thing from my mind. Two major winter storms past through last week, each strong enough to flip chip trucks south of town, shutting down Hwy 101 for the duration of the clean ups. Our son flew home from college, necessitating the long drive to Portland, but giving us an excuse for a weekend of big city shopping and family time with both sons.
We arrived home to the news that a Port Orford fishing boat had gone down on Saturday with all hands on-board. Four families and our small community are grieving, trying to absorb the news. My husband fished commercially for thirteen years. I know the life. It is a life lived in sync with the tides and the weather, not clocks and calendars. It is an honest life, where everyday decisions can be richly rewarded or have dire consequences. The working conditions can be harsh and endless or breathtakingly beautiful and exhilerating. Fishermen and their families learn to treasure and appreciate the good times and gain strength and endurance from the bad.
When I drove to work this morning the crab fishermen were well into their work day and as I drove home their lights twinkled in the distance, a reminder that they were still hard at work. The long delayed dungeness crab season is finally underway. Like always, I found comfort it seeing fishing boats out on the water, but today I also felt a guilty relief that my husband had followed his dream, lived it fully for thirteen years, and was able to walk away when it became clear it was a younger man's game.
Fishing families live their lives on the edge, with daily reminders and a full awareness that the tide will turn and the weather will change, but with the odd comfort of knowing that after the storms clear, the boats will once again go out to sea. As we enter the holiday season, be grateful, treasure your loved ones, savor every joy and gain strength from every sorrow life gives you.