After sharing some memories with a friend, I realized that fish and seafood has played a huge role in our lives. With just a tiny trigger word, like "cod"... dozens of stories come to mind.
My oldest memory goes back to the early 1940's when the "fishman" came with his makeshift "frozen food" (icechips) truck went street to street on Thursday... (the day before Friday, the Catholic fish only day)... fish filets layed out on the bed of ice. Fish at the time, was "poor peoples'" food, and we certainly qualified. Mr. Alexander (the fishman) always gave us kids a large ice chip while mom bought the best deal... Usually Scrod... (look that up if you don't recognize the name), but sometimes, if mom and dad were both working in the mill, we'd get shark or tuna... all yestrday's catch from Point Judith in Rhode Island.
At the same time, my neighborhood friend... now my DW, lived in the more affluent part of town, and her family would often have lobster, and crabcakes.
The summer treat was a trip to Rocky Point, the great old amusement park, rides and games and prizes dinner at the Rocky Point Shore Dinner Hall... Rhode Island Clam Chowder and then the famous world reknown Rocky Point Clamcakes.
A youth spent sailing and fishing on the east coast, and then later in college... on the Maine coast... brings hundreds of stories of fishing feats, fear and fun.
Not all salt water, either... lakes and rivers in the Adirondaks, Boundary Waters in Minnesota, inland Florida waters, and here in Illinois, rivers and our little campground lakes.
The fear part?... how about skin diving for lobster without a wet or dry suit... on Casco Bay in Maine... in May? At 40 degrees, in 15 feet of water, a 2 pound lobster looks like Godzilla.
An opening for any kind of experiences with fish, fishing, seafood, or fish stories...
My oldest memory goes back to the early 1940's when the "fishman" came with his makeshift "frozen food" (icechips) truck went street to street on Thursday... (the day before Friday, the Catholic fish only day)... fish filets layed out on the bed of ice. Fish at the time, was "poor peoples'" food, and we certainly qualified. Mr. Alexander (the fishman) always gave us kids a large ice chip while mom bought the best deal... Usually Scrod... (look that up if you don't recognize the name), but sometimes, if mom and dad were both working in the mill, we'd get shark or tuna... all yestrday's catch from Point Judith in Rhode Island.
At the same time, my neighborhood friend... now my DW, lived in the more affluent part of town, and her family would often have lobster, and crabcakes.
The summer treat was a trip to Rocky Point, the great old amusement park, rides and games and prizes dinner at the Rocky Point Shore Dinner Hall... Rhode Island Clam Chowder and then the famous world reknown Rocky Point Clamcakes.
A youth spent sailing and fishing on the east coast, and then later in college... on the Maine coast... brings hundreds of stories of fishing feats, fear and fun.
Not all salt water, either... lakes and rivers in the Adirondaks, Boundary Waters in Minnesota, inland Florida waters, and here in Illinois, rivers and our little campground lakes.
The fear part?... how about skin diving for lobster without a wet or dry suit... on Casco Bay in Maine... in May? At 40 degrees, in 15 feet of water, a 2 pound lobster looks like Godzilla.
An opening for any kind of experiences with fish, fishing, seafood, or fish stories...