I would stay in Galilee for a couple of more hours. I had a cup of clam chowder and soda crackers at George’s. It was early; the tour bus crowd was taking the ferry to Block Island. I stopped and asked someone who looked like a local where the old fishing boats were, and she directed me a couple of blocks away and also recommended Point Judith. I finished my chowder as I walked. I stopped in at Marines Services and bought a pair of Xtratufs (they would come in handy later) and a coffee mug that said “Eat fish, wear Grundens.” I asked the shop keeper how the rubber boots were suppose to fit; his reply was “ depends on what kind of fishing you plan on doing.”  “I’m not really sure just yet,” I told him, “depends how this mid-life thing plays out.” He went on to talk about his own mid-life thing, and tried to sell me his last pair of knee-high rubber boots that were too big. I strapped the Xtratufs onto my camera bag, one on either side. I already hated that the made me look like a greenhorn, pristine as they were. What was I thinking? I wasn’t even fishing, and had not fished in years.

 

As I walked back toward the beach to my car I stopped to talk to a guy spraying off the fishy remains of some catch. The Enterprise was on its way in as we chatted. The guys unloading were not interested in people walking up off the streets and snapping photographs of them or their catch.  I did ask what the catch was (squid). I was interested in the offload process, but clearly they did not appreciate strangers. I don't look like a tourist. After awhile you get a sense of the approachability of some people, and east coast fishermen are hell bent on protecting their image as curmudgeons. One of the guys put a large container on top of another container and in front of the conveyor that was moving the catch from the boat to the shore, so I could no longer see the squid. They kept looking back at me. I was out of the way of forklifts sandwiched between a wooden pole and a used pallet. Clearly my presence was uncomfortable for them, so I put away my camera and moved on. I deleted the images I had already taken. I don’t need that kind of karma following me around. The old woman from the lighthouse shows up unexpectedly from time to time already, and she is enough trouble.