The weekend
I feel it is important to note that despite my whinging about the sunburn i have acquired, that I had a fantastic weekend.
Al and I joined mdhensley and finian_mchens at a a beach-house. The beach house was being house-sat by two of their friends, whom I hadn't gotten a real chance to know before this weekend. I'm sure if it was the situations in which we had previously met, or just a lack of time, or just that there was a mutual wariness of unknown people, but prior to this weekend, they had kept me at arms length. And in all fairness, I probably did the same in return.
This weekend was so incredibly relaxing and low-key, however, that I was able to just relax and enjoy good conversation, good reading, and some fun activities - like fishing for Maryland bluecrabs.
And let me tell you, crabbing is not like any other fishing i've ever done. For one thing, no hook. For another, this is the first time i've used raw chicken as bait. The basic process is this: You tie a piece of raw chicken (we used chicken wings) with twine, and attach it to the dock. You make sure the twine is long enought o hit bottom. Then you cast the chicken into the water. Eventually, a crab will grab it and try to scuttle off with it, pulling the line taught. At this point, you grab a net and slowly but steadily pull the line in. The crab will keep its hold on the chicken (assuming you pull slow and steady, no waves knock it off, and you aren't trying to catch an evil crab demon {only had one of those. It kept jumping off as soon as we caught site of it. It was one of those big old codgers that's just a little too smart to end up caught}) until you scoop it up with the net.
Later on in the day, we cooked the crabs we caught (steamed them). Eating Maryland blue crabs is not like eating crab legs at red lobster. the meat isn't that easy to get. You have to rip the thing apart to get at the meat, and it takes roughly 7-12 of the things to get enough meat for a meal. And the process of ripping them apart is more than a little nasty. There is this yellow substance in the center of the crab, referred to quaintly as 'the mustard' that is basically the crabs waste processing center. Well the yellow stuff gets all over the internal crab meat, and while the mustard is generally safe to eat (it does have a higher concentration of toxins from the water), the thought is not a pleasant one. Everyone else but me basically chickened out on the crab eating, even finian_mchens (so go give him shit for it). Well, that isn't entirely true. I did get company from the two we were staying with, and even some help cleaning crab from that corner. Of course, since we had close to 3 dozen crabs, and only one person eating them, There was some extra meat that got to be consumed by those who hadn't helped with the cleaning, but that's fine. Not everyone is tough enough to handle crabs. Really though, I understand now why there is a tradition of drinking beer and other alcohol while eating those things. A little blurring makes the whole thing seem fun, and makes you mind the mildly disgusting process with a bit more aplomb.
I was also exposed (oh my) to an intriguing boxing anime (no idea what it was called). I wouldn't think that watching animated characters box would be any more interesting to me than the actual sport, but for some reason it was. Maybe it was the way they built up two different characters so that both of them had your empathy as a protagonist, and then had them fight for the title so that you weren't sure who you wanted to win, the up and coming geek turned strong or the older fighter making his comeback.
Aside from that, mostly we read, relaxed and chatted. Really, it was my ideal for a relaxing weekend, other than the sunburn (which still stings and is making concentrating at work difficult). At this point, I just wish it could have lasted longer.
Al and I joined mdhensley and finian_mchens at a a beach-house. The beach house was being house-sat by two of their friends, whom I hadn't gotten a real chance to know before this weekend. I'm sure if it was the situations in which we had previously met, or just a lack of time, or just that there was a mutual wariness of unknown people, but prior to this weekend, they had kept me at arms length. And in all fairness, I probably did the same in return.
This weekend was so incredibly relaxing and low-key, however, that I was able to just relax and enjoy good conversation, good reading, and some fun activities - like fishing for Maryland bluecrabs.
And let me tell you, crabbing is not like any other fishing i've ever done. For one thing, no hook. For another, this is the first time i've used raw chicken as bait. The basic process is this: You tie a piece of raw chicken (we used chicken wings) with twine, and attach it to the dock. You make sure the twine is long enought o hit bottom. Then you cast the chicken into the water. Eventually, a crab will grab it and try to scuttle off with it, pulling the line taught. At this point, you grab a net and slowly but steadily pull the line in. The crab will keep its hold on the chicken (assuming you pull slow and steady, no waves knock it off, and you aren't trying to catch an evil crab demon {only had one of those. It kept jumping off as soon as we caught site of it. It was one of those big old codgers that's just a little too smart to end up caught}) until you scoop it up with the net.
Later on in the day, we cooked the crabs we caught (steamed them). Eating Maryland blue crabs is not like eating crab legs at red lobster. the meat isn't that easy to get. You have to rip the thing apart to get at the meat, and it takes roughly 7-12 of the things to get enough meat for a meal. And the process of ripping them apart is more than a little nasty. There is this yellow substance in the center of the crab, referred to quaintly as 'the mustard' that is basically the crabs waste processing center. Well the yellow stuff gets all over the internal crab meat, and while the mustard is generally safe to eat (it does have a higher concentration of toxins from the water), the thought is not a pleasant one. Everyone else but me basically chickened out on the crab eating, even finian_mchens (so go give him shit for it). Well, that isn't entirely true. I did get company from the two we were staying with, and even some help cleaning crab from that corner. Of course, since we had close to 3 dozen crabs, and only one person eating them, There was some extra meat that got to be consumed by those who hadn't helped with the cleaning, but that's fine. Not everyone is tough enough to handle crabs. Really though, I understand now why there is a tradition of drinking beer and other alcohol while eating those things. A little blurring makes the whole thing seem fun, and makes you mind the mildly disgusting process with a bit more aplomb.
I was also exposed (oh my) to an intriguing boxing anime (no idea what it was called). I wouldn't think that watching animated characters box would be any more interesting to me than the actual sport, but for some reason it was. Maybe it was the way they built up two different characters so that both of them had your empathy as a protagonist, and then had them fight for the title so that you weren't sure who you wanted to win, the up and coming geek turned strong or the older fighter making his comeback.
Aside from that, mostly we read, relaxed and chatted. Really, it was my ideal for a relaxing weekend, other than the sunburn (which still stings and is making concentrating at work difficult). At this point, I just wish it could have lasted longer.