Puffer

Deep Blue Sea

It's interesting the way you can be sitting around chatting with friends and a word can be mentioned and all of a sudden memories just rush back.

Today, I heard the word, "charter" and I memories of 1972 came rushing back. I have only been on a charter boats once in my life.

Back in the days when we were dating, Roger and I used to take all of these little "Florida on a Tankful" day trips - yes, long before it was a Sunshine State slogan.  In the course of about a year, I imagine that we saw just about everything once could see in a day's time from Orlando.

Citrus Tower - back then, you could see orange groves as far as the eye could see.
Ponce Inlet Lighthouse - we climbed it many times

And then one day he had this grand idea that I should get up well before the crack of dawn - so early that it made me wonder why in the world I even went to bed the night before. He picked me up in his corvette, most certainly with Dunkin' Donuts already in hand, and we headed to the coast.

I want to say Port Canaveral, but I think it was Stuart.

Now, I am really not all that much of an outdoor girl. Really not much of a 'lots of water beneath me' girl. And most definitely not a 'ew this is so stinky over here' kind of girl.  Of course, you don't really tell those kind of things when you think you are in love and he decides that the surprise of the day is deep sea fishing.

How was it, I wonder, that I did not get that whole love of fishing thing much earlier? Starry eyes, I would guess.

I can almost guarantee that since the date was a surprise destination, I most certainly did not have sunscreen, sunglasses or a wide brimmed sun hat - much less a life jacket - with me.  Good sport that I was though, off I went. How he ever got me on that rocky boat I will never know. Just stepping front solid ground (even a dock) to a rocky boat still freaks me out until this day.  I can hear him though "Come on kiddo, just step across, I've gotcha!"

Trust. Faith.  He definitely did give me that sense that I could always trust him.

I wonder if he realized how freaky this was for me. I'm sure I stayed right by his side. I'm equally sure that I was also pretty well prepared to meet my Maker after a dip in that big ocean.  Funny how you miss really good stuff when fear gets in your way. But I was a good sport, and if he ever knew how afraid I was, he never let on.

Finally after a choppy ride out somewhere far from dry land, I found myself with a very large fishing pole in my hand. I am positive that someone else put bait on the hook because I can guarantee that I would not have touched anything slimy.  I recall why I never really took to fishing when Daddy tried to teach us, back when I was a kid.  "Judi, you talk too much." "Judi, you have to be still"
There was no place much to go on that little boat, so I just bet I kept my back right close to the wall of that cabin. Green wall, if I recall.

I recall almost losing the fishing rod because, well, I had a fish. Roger assisted but made me try to reel the thing in. I guess there must have been an adrenaline rush and a thrill of actually catching something - who knows?   I know that everyone thought my catch was pretty hilarious.

After the exhaustion of that little adventure, I remember sitting on a bench, by a window, in the shade. Clearly I have no idea what kind of boat I was on. Green. Wood. Not large.

I also do remember how Roger stuck with me, feeble that I was and how we enjoyed watching the sunset as we headed back to dry land.  It might have been that day that I first thought that he was a really special guy - love of fishing and all.

I did not have a camera, or any photos of that day, but that single word "charter" brought it all back to life in my mind.

Roger's Lesson:  He would be laughing about it and say "You've gotta try something new every now and then. How do you know if it is awful if you don't even try?"

And he would know that I listened to that advice far less often than I probably should have.

One thing he was going to do when he retired was to buy himself a little fishing boat - so he could teach the grandchildren, I am sure - for I was a lost fishing cause.  Perhaps he is fishing away in Heaven.  Of course, he will never get a catch as great as the one he got that day in Stuart.

And what did I land on my hook?  Oh, it is etched in my memory forever. Probably for the artistry of it all. All of God's creatures, great and small, each unique, each special, but none as special to Him as each of us who have a soul. A soul belonging to Him. A soul that He cares about more than anything ever.

I landed the most unusual creature I had ever seen in my life. Puffer-fish. They are actually quite toxic to humans, never mind that I would never have touched the thing anyway. He was set free right away! And everyone got a good laugh at the girl fisherman. They all caught fish you could actually eat. (Not that I would have eaten them either)

I do not remember another single person on that little boat except Roger. Might have been friends involved, might have been strangers. I had eyes for only one person.


And shortly after that little trip, he asked me to marry him. I guess he figured that if I could tough out that day and keep laughing, I could tough out most anything. I don't know about that, but after that ring was on my little ole finger, I checked deep sea fishing right off of my bucket list. Been there. Done that. Got the best catch of all!