Winter's Grip

That's the view from my studio window, looking Northeast at Lopez Island across Griffin Bay.

Arctic air is pouring down the Fraser River Valley and across the San Juan Islands.  To swim in that water would be to die in twelve minutes.  Yet seabirds bob on the waves.  They're incredible.

Frantic little brown birds are tearing seeds and suet from the feeders.  They're puffed up like Yorkshire Puddings from the oven.  Elizabeth told me something yesterday: in winter, birds die of dehydration as much as exposure, since fresh water is frozen.  So I poured some boiling water on the birdbath ice.

I sometimes imagine Concrete walking out there under gray waves.  A half mile out is a dropoff.  Crabs gather there, unable to make it back up the slope, so that's where the crab fishermen lay their pots. 

When they collect them, seagulls swarm, hoping to get the female crabs the fishermen must discard by law.  You can tell the crabs' sex by the width of a particular plate on their underbellies.

How strange it would be for Concrete down in the darkness, thousands of girl-crabs scuttling around him, walking over his feet.

Comments

[Beege]

I enjoyed the story. Thank you. It reminded me of many things: crabbing with my dad, my fisherman brother - one day, taken forever by the frigid sea, and the birds saved throughout winter by my aunt's suet and water offerings. ...The girl girl crabs would appreciate Concrete...

[Camila]

OK, so you capture otrtes ans use them to help you fish. You catch more fish, but the wild otter population depends on wild fish not being caught. Thus the otter population declines, and there are fewer otrtes to help with the fishing and there are fewer fish overall. What's the mystery here? But at least they didn't kill otrtes for fur and import Nutria (aka Coypu) from the Amazon for the fur trade like we did here in the US.

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mbt shoes canada Paul Chadwick's Weblog: Winter's Grip