34 years
Thirty-four years ago yesterday, I saw a river otter at Trinidad Bay for the first time, so I went up there for a visit to mark the occasion. (Actually, I mostly went to treat Shadow to a nice outing, as this will likely be his last trip to the beach...)
Anyway, I didn't expect to see any otters, and I didn't, but I did run into the lady who has become Otter-Spotter #1 there since my departure, and she gave me a rundown on what she'd been seeing there the past couple of summers.
Also, an old commercial fisherman friend drove out onto the pier while I was there. When he saw me, he stopped, rolled down his window, smiled and said, "Where... have... you... BEEN?!" It was nice to know at least one of my old buddies noticed I'd been MIA all this time.
Only downer of the day was that I had the worst plate of fish and chips ever for dinner afterwards: an absolutely horrible mush of undercooked cod, and limp, greasy fries. It was expensive, too. Even Shadow didn't want a piece of the fish. I couldn't blame him. :p
It was nice to get out there again, though. I used to go to Trinidad every single evening. Kind of hard for me to grasp that all that has been over for 9 whole years now.
The awful new pier.
Anyway, I didn't expect to see any otters, and I didn't, but I did run into the lady who has become Otter-Spotter #1 there since my departure, and she gave me a rundown on what she'd been seeing there the past couple of summers.
Also, an old commercial fisherman friend drove out onto the pier while I was there. When he saw me, he stopped, rolled down his window, smiled and said, "Where... have... you... BEEN?!" It was nice to know at least one of my old buddies noticed I'd been MIA all this time.
Only downer of the day was that I had the worst plate of fish and chips ever for dinner afterwards: an absolutely horrible mush of undercooked cod, and limp, greasy fries. It was expensive, too. Even Shadow didn't want a piece of the fish. I couldn't blame him. :p
It was nice to get out there again, though. I used to go to Trinidad every single evening. Kind of hard for me to grasp that all that has been over for 9 whole years now.
The awful new pier.