"I didn't think you were such a...such a...WUSS!"

It has been said that there are three classifications of people during an emergency ("Passengers, please fasten your seat belts, the plane is going down!"):  #1) those who start screaming and running around in circles; #2) those who are frozen in fear; and #3) those who spring into action and save themselves and others.

I want to be a #3, we all want to be #3's, but like my fear of heights, I don't know if I have much say in the matter. I once watched a documentary about Navy Seals and thought, "I would so flunk this!" In my mind the key to becoming more of a #3 and Navy Seal-like was to slow down with my reactions to the moment and have more courage. A few days after watching the documentary I went to a Relief Society enrichment night where we played team building games such as working together to pass a bucket of water down the line blindfolded, etc. I was using my new-found Navy Seal skills as I did this activity and it was working! I was so proud as I slowed down and focused and manned up and didn't spill the water we were passing down the line. And then without warning, an older lady on my team tripped on a rope and went down. Although no one started screaming (the #1's) there were some #3-ers who jumped into action. It all happened so fast, but by the time my frozen #2 brain started working, the #3 people had her foot elevated and were performing surgery using a dull knife and two spatulas they found in the kitchen. 

Jump ahead with me now to our vacation, where I learned that despite what I previously assumed, yes I can change my designation! I can be a #1! I screamed and ran around in circles while crab fishing. And when it was over, Dennis considered me for a moment, paused, searching for words, and pronounced "I didn't think you were such a...such a...WUSS!" He said it with love. Then he added "and THAT was worth $100."

I have no crab-catching action photos. It wasn't the time or place to mention, "Oh, dear heart, would you kindly reach into my jacket and get my phone? This is a divine little photo opportunity...uh, wait, I have 10 crabs snapping at my fingers...." So, all I have is the photo above of the creepy dead fish eyeing you. Just know I believe I sat on his head at one point during the mayhem. He was our bait. We had three pots just like him. They took up the whole boat. I sat on him as I was SHREIKING and trying to pick up 10 delirious crabs that were all about my feet, clicking at my ungloved hands. I was supposed to pick them up BARE HANDED, and fling them back the ocean because they were too small (they were pretty colors I must admit) while Dennis calmly encouraged me as he guided the motor boat. I even let loose with a swear word once that would make the guys on "Deadliest Catch" proud. Not really, it was just a "darn" embellished but it hung in the air and Dennis said, "Did you just say da#$?" "Yes I did, and whats-it-to-ya just shut up and drive." I didn't really say shut-up. We are not a shut-up family.

Like I mentioned, it was worth $100.

In the midst of hauling nine pots and using muscles that would ache for days, I slowly realized that, hey, I can quit! I don't have to do this for three hours. It was like when we have a bad dream and as we struggle to wake up, in that half-awake moment our brain realizes "Hey, lady, lady, it's okay, this is all a dream. You don't have to go on stage in your underwear and welcome the entire Stake to a road show you forgot to write and didn't rehearse!"

So, sounding somewhat like a three-year-old, I whined to Dennis: "I don't like this. I want to go back to the shore!" (I may have actually said, "I don't wike dis...").

We didn't keep, cook or eat any crabs but to quote the American Express ad it was "priceless!" And I would do it again. I just need another helper....and gloves.

Here is what I am thinking in the photo above: "If I turn the handle to the left does the boat go to the left or does it go to the right?....and will we head toward the shore or go around in circles or crash into that other boat over there, uh oh, we're going the wrong way, I'm going to run into that other boat, Dennis, DENNIS, take over, NOW, Dennis, NOW!" Then I started screaming and running around in circles. But when I look at this photo, don'tcha think I look kinda confident? Huh, go figure. Next time I'll do better. My brain was seriously trying to wrap itself around puzzles of one kind or the other the whole time we were out there. I would pick up the crabs (BARE-HANDED!) after disentangling them while they were clinging to the nets with their mean claws, or skittering around wildly at my feet, or up-side-down and grotesque, and I would be squinting at them and thinking, "are these the back claws or the front claws, back or front, front or back?" And Dennis, while steering the boat in the strong current and against strong winds, would say patiently and with humor, "Hon, just pick them up from the back. Press down on them a little and pick them up and throw them over the side!" And so I would start to reach for the crab BARE HANDED but thinking "are those the front claws or the back claws?" But I did it. Over and over. And verily, verily I screamethed. It helped. Yay me.

See the young guy standing on the dock with his hands on his hips? He looked EXACTLY like a guy on the TBS reality series "Little People big World" EXACTLY. And get this, his co-worker (who is not pictured) was a little person! I was flabbergasted. I kept thinking, "Is this the Roloffs?"

Below is a photo of the TLC twins, the Roloffs. Seriously, the guy who helped us with the boat looked EXACTLY like the boy in the red sweatshirt below. Can you see it?

The very next day we went whale watching.

Heaven.

 They are so graceful!

 And when they blow the whole ocean smells like whale breath. Stinky, stinky, sweetly stinky!

 And this is a whale tail. It's hard to get a picture of that!

The next day we went to the good old town of Newport and strolled the wharf and watched them haul in and filet salmon. Talk about STINKY!

This photo is taken from the boardwalk where we spent time on a few years ago on our trip with Tony and his family. He brought oil paints, brushes and little boards for each of us to use and we "painted" while Tony painted. I took this photo with the hopes of some day taking an oil painting class and painting it. Dob down little brushes of white paint to make the shadows in the water. Oh yum. I wish it didn't take a lifetime to learn how to paint. Kind of like when I taught piano lessons to an adult student and on the very first lesson she said "I want to start with "Clare de Lune..."

Finishing up this post, we also ate lunch at Mo's and I had their fisherman's soup with every creature imagineable in a savory red peppery red tomato sauce where you dip your Texas toast. Oh my goodness. and thank you crab fishermen for catching me some crabs to eat.


We watched the Sea Lions on the wharf. They have not read the New Testament. They aren't even members of the Rotary Club. They do not turn the other cheek, they do not do unto others, they spend their days jockeying for position and woofing at each other. It was fascinating. We watched them for a good half hour. That dude on the dock all alone wouldn't let anybody else up there with him. And they tried and tried to get up but he would woof them down. And others would plop on top of each other three deep.
 

I will close with these shots we took while on a hike.(I sound like a high counseler, "And, so brothers and sisters, in closing...." and we glance at the clock and and it's three minutes after the hour and we're thinking, "you've got two minutes...." and two minutes later he says "in closing....." So, in closing, this hike was one of the highlights of our trip. It's called, oh shoot, I can't remember. It was rated as "moderately difficult" and that it was. We were sweating pretty badly at the end and it was about two miles each way, but two miles of unparalleled beauty. You know the short hike to Multnomah Falls and how glorious that is, with ferns lining the path? That was this hike, with ocean views crashing far, far below.

Today is an early autumn day here in Utah. Achingly perfect day. But there is nothing in my opinion that rivals the Oregon Coast and we were so grateful to have the opportunity to enjoy this trip together.

 XO
Mom