Lobsters on the Scanner

I didn't have any of my own lobsters, having been done hauling from Sweet Pea in early October. My gracious host in St. Croix wanted some lobsters and shrimp to remind him of the taste of cold water temperate zone seafood. The good stuff. Lobsters with proper claws on them. Shipping? Apparently not a viable option. So I stopped in at Jess's Market in Rockland and with their expert assistance happened upon the solution. 2 pounds of frozen shrimp cooling 2 live lobsters inside a little picnic bag. The gentlemen in security screening in Boston were amused. The Rockland guys have probably seen it enough that there was no surprise value.

I'm going away for a week and a half to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. I'll play some tunes and explore and visit with some of the Mainers down there.

I was pretty well panicked about leaving Lisa and the kids on the island in the winter for such a long period. I've never been away anywhere near that long. My guilt took the form of obsessive focus on firewood, chimney cleaning, heating oil transfer, neurotic floor cleaning and other silliness. I guess some of it was useful.

Now I'm sitting in Logan trying to learn how to wait in a chair in a brightly lit waiting area when what I really want is to be sleeping. I did pretty well at first. I sat in a Dunkin Donuts courtesy seating area and did almost nothing for 2 hours, watching people, staring, breathing. It was a good exercise. Especially when on the road, there seems to be an impulse to always try and be productive or eating or drinking or viewing, consuming, moving. The staring was a good experience. For a couple of hours. Then I had to play some tunes. A bunch of instrumental acoustic guitar and a private funky version of Use Me Up by Bill Withers.

My air travel for the last 11 years has been at a maximum altitude of about 2,400 feet and a duration of 14 minutes or so from the gravel hill sloping to the shore on Matinicus to the Knox County Regional Airport. There was no internet, no taking off my shoes, no chatting with family, checking email. None of it. Laptops, Portable Devices and earclipped cell phones are attached to almost everyone. Me included at the moment.

I went to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands when I was 5 and never got over it. This is the trip of a lifetime, and at least pretty close to the two far-distant points on my life line. I have always loved to go places for little more than the stimulation of being Somewhere Else. I guess I'm getting that. Lot of sitting though, considering how far I'm going. Better walk around a little.