The Lows Are Too High

Good grief Charlie Brown! The last two and a half weeks have been...hmmm...exhausting? I've taken my first day off in 16 days and man has nothing in life felt better. Yes, the dreaded 'job' has started. Wow what a punch in the gut this new adventure has been. And yet, it has also been one of the most satisfying endeavors I have ever been a part of. Fishing!!! Who knew? I have been working as a deckhand for a charter fishing boat for the last two weeks. "But Micah, I didn't even know you were into fishing?!" you might be saying to yourself. Well, I'm not, or at least I wasn't until a few weeks ago. You see, I'm on this whole 'try new things' kick, which in the end, if my calculations are correct should render me invincible to the ravages of time and grant me endless powers like flying and breathing under water. If not, at least I'll have met a bunch of interesting people along the way. In the meantime my day sratrs at 3:45 a.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m. where I scuttle back to my hole, shed the days misgivings, take notice of new abrasions and try to wash the reak of herring from my persona. Honestly, its a hard job that demands ALL of my time but pays big dividends in the 'building character' department of my life and also keeps me off the streets where as an unemployed self obssesed rock fondler I would surely be up to no good. This job is amazing. I've learned a literal 'shitload' of information, and I've seen creatures of the depth pulled onto the deck, beaten into unconciousness and later filleted and eaten with a nice white wine. As a first year deckhand I guess I'm the lowest man on the totem pole, but fortunately there are a few others down there to share in my head down, keep to yourself, work hard attitude. In all honesty, I'm trying really fucking hard to do my best in an industry that I know nothing about. Of course, catching fish isn't rocket science. Or at least the neck down unit portion of the job isn't. On the other hand, I've witnessed some pretty 'cool shit' during my short stint as a deck hand. Marvelous battles between man and beast, 150 lb monsters from the blue, sea lions, rescued birds, whale orgies, and skin eating bacteria. Oh yeah, this is my self-glamorized life. Why fishing you ask? Good question. I guess you could sum it up this way, "It's what people do here." Honestly, our clients pay thousands of dollars to have us boat them to the finest fisshing holes in all of Alaska and NOTHING makes them happier than to see us (I mean them) pluck a silvery beautiful alien like creature out of the ocean, bash it in the head, and then praise them for being some god-like hero of the ages. Nothing opens pocketbooks quite like the stroking of egoes (or the taste of salmon for that matter). However, this is my first 'real' outdoor industry job!!! Hooray for me! I've made it to the big time! Dreams DO come true, but only in Alaska. And in a weird round about way, I have Steph Davis to thank for it all. When all is said and done, I do really enjoy most parts of my job like meeting the clients and talking to them about there lives, seeing the unique and mysterious creatures of the sea (bludgeoned to death), and spending so much time outside and getting paid for it. The fun parts of the job are really fun, while the shitty parts of the job are...well...shitty. But its all for the love of climbing. Honestly, I'm doing this for climbing! At the end of the summer I should hopefully have amassed enough financial security to get me to the 'promiseland'. Stay tuned...