Arthur and I went fishing, so here is a tree from my archives. Pay no attention to the man, the tree is what matters, for now. Picture taken not far from the DMZ, South Korea, 2007.
[daily log: walking, 3km; catching, 5salmon]
Month: July 2019
Caveat: Morefish
We went fishing.
I took a painterly photo of a passing, old, wooden fishing boat.
Arthur butchers the salmon.
Caveat: Poem #1095 “Boycott”
some fish just refuse to participate or join in this game we're playing
– a pseudo-haiku
Caveat: Tree #209
We went out and caught three salmon today.
The picture below is where we caught them – off the east side of San Ignacio, after trying several other spots.
I think this could pass for a “daily tree” picture although I’d be hard pressed to single out one of the trees for salience… perhaps the one on the right? I think actually the clouds are more interesting than the trees in this picture.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km; catching, 3salmon]
Caveat: Poem #1094 “Lo, a goat”
I looked down beachward - not really a beach, just rocks - and saw a goat there
– a pseudo-haiku
Caveat: Tree #208
The two hundred and eighth tree is shown below.
[daily log: walking, 1.5km]
Caveat: Paved with good intentions
I had a fairly productive day today. Firstly, I replaced the pipe that connects the well-head with the “doghouse” (where the pump controller and accumulator tank are), per Richard’s advice. I had some trouble with one of the couplings (brass to PVC), but I finally got it to not leak.
Secondly, I began laying out a “first draft” of the paving stones for the passageway/patio alongside the south side of the kitchen shed. This was a project Arthur had been working on before his accident last year, and I’ve been aware that it’s been bothering him that it wasn’t progressing, so I re-initiated it. Here is the concept, beginning to take shape:
Caveat: Poem #1093 “Hopeless”
the stones rested there angry and impertinent unyielding to hope
– a pseudo-haiku
Caveat: Tree #207
The stream that runs down the hillside, and that roughly divides lots 73 and 74, was muddied by Richard’s dogged pursuit of rocks. The trees were witnesses.
[daily log: walking, 2km; tromping, 500m]
Caveat: Planning
One thing that I have been doing is trying to learn how to use a CAD program called FreeCAD. Although it may be a long time before a house is built on Lot 73, we are putting all the preliminaries in place (water, septic system, power pole, etc.) and especially laying out the pad where the house would go. And to do this effectively, some kind of tentative house concept needs to exist. So I have taken some ideas I had and drawn them up in the CAD program, and discussed them with Arthur.
Below is a one bedroom “cabin” over a two-car garage. Since the driveway goes down to the house pad on Lot 73 – unlike Arthur’s original Lot 74 house – we both have thought to take advantage of this by having an in-house garage. The view is from the northwest, so you would be looking UP the driveway, behind the house. The hill is fairly steep, so the road grade level would be even with the peak of the roof. The garage entrance faces west, and you’d have to kind of circle out to get up the driveway.
Caveat: Poem #1092 “The sea”
Like serious soup the sea gnaws on the boat's wake, asserts dominance
– a pseudo-haiku
Caveat: Tree #206
Arthur and I went out seeking fish today. It was disappointing. But I’m still somewhat befuddled by what seems to me Arthur’s tendency to give up too fast when the fish don’t bite. I had always understood fishing to be a waiting game. Well, such as it is. He’s not really open to any input from me, so I just drive the boat around as he instructs.
Here is a tree from my archives: a tree on the beach at Duluth, Minnesota, 2009 – I was living in Korea by 2009, but I was on a visit back to the US.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km]
Caveat: Poem #1091 “Misunderstandings”
When Arthur is talking to others, he likes to joke about my books, complains there are too many, cluttering his attic. The message I get from these warm words: "you are not welcome here."
– a nonnet
Caveat: Tree #205
The Blueberry (the Chevy Tahoe vehicle) went to the shop. Because of this, I rode with Richard out of town in the morning after dropping off the car, and back with him in the afternoon to pick it up again – which works out because Richard lives in town but is currently working at our place here.
Richard stopped by Tyler – a local hardware selling and equipment rental conglomerate. He was shopping for a piece of metal for his landing craft project (which I blogged some about last fall).
I took this picture of a tree with forklift in the foreground. Incidentally, the shed on the hillside in the background is part of the Elementary School campus.
[daily log: walking, 3km]
Caveat: Poem #1090 “As geese will do”
a steady rain falls the neighbors' loud white geese bask and play in the sea
– a pseudo-haiku
Caveat: Tree #204
An old dead tree begets a new young tree.
[daily log: walking, 3km]
Caveat: Nonspecification
Arthur and I were walking around town – because we’d left the Blueberry (the car) at the mechanic’s for diagnosis of a problem.
He was grumbling incoherently, as sometimes happens.
Jared: “How are you doing?”
Arthur: “Everything is fucked.”
Jared: “What do you mean? What’s wrong?”
Arthur: “I don’t feel the need to be more specific.”
He’s been struggling with his vertigo problem, of course. And a general frustration with his ageing. But the way he phrased his response made me laugh.
In other news, Richard got the new septic tank for Lot 73 stuck down in its pit, finally, and mostly buried. Progress is being made, one rock at a time, and by the bucketfulls.
Caveat: Poem #1089 “Redirection”
Completely remove pain from discourse. Don't lean on it as an excuse It hijacks our monologues. Don't pay it attention. Unavoidable. Don't dwell on it. Look instead at the trees.
– a nonnet
Caveat: Tree #203
Here is a daily tree.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Poem #1088 “Geologic impact”
let us move some stones to make a way for tree stuff those falling needles
– a pseudo-haiku
Caveat: Tree #202
I spent part of the day working with Arthur, who became obsessed with working on this path reengineering project for the pathway that runs directly alongside the south side of the house and kitchen-shed. He wants to put a “gutter” along the ground level against the edge of the concrete pad, and then put down paving stones instead of gravel. The fact of his obsession was really my fault – I’d planted the idea in his mind because I wanted to take on a project for myself that felt relevant to him, meaning something he’d expressed a desire to see done, as opposed to one of my own whims. My idea with planting it in his mind was that I’d work on it for him, but once he decided to work on it, he couldn’t let it go. So I was in the assistant role.
Here is a tree from my archive-o’-trees – a picture taken in November, 2014. I know exactly where this is: it’s along my daily walking commute to work in Ilsan, Korea. I can even say with certainty that I’m going toward work, because of the decorative art on those small retaining walls. I made this 3-kilometer walk, each direction, six days a week for 5 years, 2013-2018, and had made the same walk from an earlier, similarly-located apartment in 2007-2009 also. I know the path better than any other path on planet earth.
[daily log: walking, 1km]
Caveat: Poem #1087 “Almost done”
with a few more words and then I'll have said it all just let the birds talk
– a pseudo-haiku
Caveat: Tree #201
Here is a tree about to surrender to Richard’s rock-seeking.
Richard has been digging south of the road to get fill for the house-site on Lot 73.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Wayneless
Wayne departed back for his home on Vancouver Island, today, leaving Arthur without an enthusiastic fishing companion. I have a hard time being enthusiastic about fishing. I am happy to go with Arthur out in the boat – and I even enjoy the time out on the water when I’m not feeling criticized, but I don’t have the passion for fishing that Arthur or Wayne do.
Here is Wayne, about to board the plane.
Here is Arthur, Wayneless, forlorn.
Caveat: Poem #1086 “Another domain altogether”
The sea swims and swings and it is terrifying like green-white sunlight.
– a pseudo-haiku
Caveat: Tree #200
Well there is more than one tree here. But as Wayne said as we walked along the road earlier, “You got a lot of Christmas trees around.” It was completely deadpan. But it made me laugh. So pick a tree, that feels salient to you, and that’s your daily tree.
[daily log: walking, 4.5km]
Caveat: No clouds, no wind, no fish, no fun
We went out fishing again today – Wayne, Arthur and I. It was Wayne’s last day here.
Actually it was a bit windy at the south end of San Ignacio – but the fish from yesterday had disappeared. There were quite a few boats around, but no one was catching.
We went over to Caldera Bay to try for halibut, instead. But as I’ve remarked before, Arthur seems to have little patience for halibut fishing. Halibut fishing is unlike fishing for salmon, where you troll with boat at a slow speed and maneuver the downriggers to depths in an effort to convince the fish to try for your hook. In halibut fishing, you just drop your hook and weight and bait to the bottom and wait. And wait.
And wait.
Arthur gets restless with this, after maybe 15 minutes. It can be heartbreakingly amusing in the way that so many ageing-related issues are tragicomic.
Here is a baited halibut hook, with its formerly frozen herring hoping to be a meal.
Here are the fishermen, driving the boat along.
Caveat: Poem #1085 “Damage”
the sky is broken the birds all plummet, broken my heart is broken
– a pseudo-haiku
Caveat: Tree #199
Here is a tree attached to San Ignacio Island. I think that’s the west side of San Juan Bautista in the background, and farther back, the mountainous spine of Prince of Wales Island.
[daily log: walking, 1.5km; catching, 11salmon]
Caveat: Eleven Salmon
Arthur and I went out fishing today. Wayne didn’t come along – he’s actually more of a river fisherman and I think maybe Wayne was burned out on dealing with Arthur and me and the tension on the boat that arises due to Arthur getting upset that I can’t read his mind but I’m nevertheless supposed to be effective as second-in-command.
But we have our rhythms, I guess. And we finally caught some fish. Maybe because finally it has been raining a bit, and finally the fish decided to taste the shores.
Here is a view of where the fish were, south side of San Ignacio – to the left, from here, is the open sea, but it’s a ways down. There were broad swells but it wasn’t too windy.
Here is a view of Sunnahae – the mountain that towers over Craig – on the way back.
Caveat: Poem #1084 “Rust”
The bits of iron that can be found by the road rust - to look like stones
– a pseudo-haiku
Caveat: Tree #198
There are some trees to be found hereabouts.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Bear #2
Arthur and Wayne failed to catch fish up at the north end of the island, where they’d gone off to yesterday. So they came back early. I guess the fishing season just isn’t going well, this year. Wayne said some people were catching fish, but using a brute force “snagging” method that is illegal in most parts of North America, but which is allowed in libertarian Alaska. It made him uncomfortable. He remarked that fishing like that in British Columbia – his home – that method would land you in jail.
So they came back. We were sitting in the upstairs living room area after dinner, and I looked up out the front door window and saw a bear in the driveway. I went out and managed a low-quality photo of it as it ambled toward the water cistern.
