Fishermen's Fleet Reports

"THE WHEEL IS TURNING AND YOU CAN'T SLOW DOWN, YOU CAN'T LET GO AND YOU CAN'T HOLD ON, YOU CAN'T GO BACK AND YOU CAN'T STAND STILL, IF THE THUNDER DON'T GET YA', THEN THE LIGHTNING WILL. WON'T YOU TRY JUST A LITTLE BIT HARDER, COULDN'T YOU TRY JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE?" R.H. JUAN AND HIS TRUSTED FISHING BUDDY (SEE PICTURE) HAVE BEEN DOWN HERE SEVERAL TIMES. THEY ARE SELF CONTAINED AND GOOD TRAVELERS. JUAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN FRIENDLY AND POLITE, BUT IS A LITTLE GUARDED, USUALLY CONTENT TO LISTEN TO OTHERS' STORIES AND TO GO ABOUT HIS BUSINESS. THE KIND OF GUY WHO PEOPLE THAT DON'T PLAY POKER WELL, AS I DON'T, WOULD AVOID PLAYING FOR MONEY WITH. THEY ARE BOTH SERIOUS FISHERMEN, AND WHEN I GOT SOME NEXT TO LAST MINUTE COMMUNICATIONS THAT THEY WERE PLANNING ON COMING DOWN FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS OF FISHING LAST WEEK I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THEIR ARRIVAL. ON THE AFTERNOON THAT THEY WERE TO ARRIVE TRUSTED COMPENDIUM HANS AND I HAD HEADED TO THE SHACK FOR A BURGER, ALL WAS DIALED IN. UPON OUR RETURN WE WERE LOOKIN' AT A RED BOARD HOUSTON! PHONE MESSAGES AND EMAILS FROM SEVERAL SOURCES SAYING THAT THEY HAD HAD SOME PROBLEMS AT THE TJ AIRPORT AND HAD MISSED THEIR PLANE. LOTS OF FOLKS WOULD HAVE LIMPED HOME, THEIR FISHING RODS TUCKED BETWEEN THEIR LEGS, MUTTERING EPITHETS ABOUT THE "$&#*IN' #$@@CANS", BUT NOT THESE GUYS. THEY MANNED UP, CHANGED THEIR FLIGHT TO ONE A LITTLE LATER INTO CABO, AND FORGED AHEAD. WE SCRAMBLED ROBERTO TO MAKE THE DRIVE DOWN TO CABO TO RETRIEVE THEM, AND A LITTLE LATE, BUT NONE THE WORSE FOR WEAR, THEY ARRIVED IN LA PAZ AND WERE UP AND READY FOR 'EM EARLY THE NEXT DAY. THEY CAUGHT YELLOWTAIL AND PARGO, AS MOST FOLKS ARE NOW, AND HAD A GOOD TIME. JUAN MENTIONED IN PASSING THAT HE HAD NOTICED THAT I OFTEN USE ROBERT HUNTER QUOTES IN MY BLOGGING EFFORTS. "GOOD GOD Y'ALL" I SCREAMED INTERNALLY, NOT ONLY WAS HE MY SECOND OR THIRD CONFIRMED READER, HE KNEW OF ROBERT HUNTER. FOR THOSE OF YET TO DISCOVER MR. HUNTER, FOR MY MONEY HE IS EVERY BIT THE EQUAL OF DYLAN, ONE OF THE BEST SONG WRITERS IN THE LAST 50, OR 500 YEARS. NO RICHARD, I DON'T MEAN TO LEAVE OUT BARRY, AND I ADMIT THAT "THE COPA" IS A CATCHY DITTY, BUT THIS GUY'S IN ANOTHER LEAGUE. JUAN AND I DISCUSSED OUR INTEREST IN THINGS DEAD FOR A BIT. I WAS GETTIN' A BIT OF A LOOK INSIDE OF THIS FAIRLY PRIVATE GUY, AND THE MORE I SAW THE MORE I LIKED. DEDICATED FISHERMAN, AND DEADICATED AS WELL. ONE OF THE REALLY NICE THINGS ABOUT DOIN' THIS JOB FOR AWHILE IS THE AMOUNT OF REALLY NICE FOLKS THAT WANDER BY, NOT JUST IN THEIR ABSOLUTE QUANTITY, BUT IN THE FACT THAT MOST PEOPLE HAVE A LOT TO OFFER IF YOU CAN FIND SOME COMMON GROUND, JUAN JUST BEING THE MOST RECENT. UPON HIS DEPARTURE I GAVE HIM A COUPLE OF DISCS THAT I HAD BURNED FOR HIM, ONE BRAND NEW AND THE OTHER MAYBE JUST A LITTLE YOUNGER THAN HE, AND HIS FACE LIT BRIEFLY BUT BRIGHTLY. IF YOU JUST READ THE NEWS AND WATCH THE BOX THINGS CAN SEEM TO BE PRETTY DARK. IF TWITTERIN' AND FACEBOOKIN' IS WHAT YOU CALL HUMAN INTERACTION, I'M HERE TO TELL YOU THAT YOU'RE MISSING THE WHOLE GAME THERE AMIGO. UNCORK THE EAR BUDS, PUSH ALL SWITCHES TO "OFF", AND STRIKE UP A CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE, WITH EVERYONE. I BELIEVE THAT TOGETHER WE ARE WORTH EVEN MORE THAN THE SUM OF OUR PARTS, AND THAT WE NEED TO HARNESS OURSELVES TO ONE ANOTHER IN ORDER TO REALLY MOVE THIS BIG OL' THING IN A BETTER DIRECTION. THANKS JUAN. DAVID