Came home from work early on Friday as
the fires raged in the warm air at Camp Pendleton.
Isaac and I decided to cool off by launching the Finder, throwing
some jigs and catching the sunset off Monarch Beach.
Conditions were glassy, the air was stifling and sea temp was 64
plus. There was no current in deep water so we crowded the
beach. The fish were biting in shallow water and this calico bit a white
Gulp jig in the kelp not far from the surf line. The smoke on the
water made for a bloody red sunset.. We kept that bass in the bait
tank and turned him loose in front of the Wind and Sea, where we
then joined our friends for beverages after we got tied up.
It was not until I was surfing the internet the next day that I
realized that the entire animal warfare sector of Pendleton had been consumed
in the blaze and many had escaped or been turned loose. It was
reported that there were over 250 rhesus monkeys scampering into
the surf at Las Pulgas Friday night. They swam through
incoming grunion toward the bright lights of the commercial squid boats, just
as their marine training dictated. Instead of boarding the
vessels and seizing control, however, they were sucked into the
giant squid intake hoses, blown into the flash freezer and processed into
vacuum sealed food saver bags.
I was told by a telephone sales representative from the San Pedro
Bait company that for a limited time, if I bought the ten pound
block of fresh frozen squid , not only would I be getting the best frozen
squid on the market today, but I had also a real shot at
getting a bonus monkey. I was so stoked by this sales
pitch that I bought five 10 pound squid blocks and thawed them
out in the backyard right before Wendy's family came over for a
cookout the next afternoon. All five were straight
squid with no monkeys, so that was disappointing. We ended up just
getting pizza.
Later, I heard that the squid company actually
froze the monkeys separately and donated them to a homeless shelter.
I guess since I know now that it was for a good cause, I shouldn't
feel so ripped off. Still, serving something so high on the chain
to folks who are mostly a bunch of winos seemed wasteful in comparison to
the more educated palates of those who appreciate the
rare delicacy of consuming something with such
proximity to us on the evolutionary chart. I just
wish I hadn't thawed out all that squid in the yard on such a
hot afternoon and promised everyone a barbecued primate dining experience
that I could not deliver.
I may not have any flash frozen monkeys for honored dinner guests to kick off
what sure feels like the start of the summer, but in the year since my
last report I have been rejoined by my right eye, so I feel pretty
lucky. The season is upon us, so its time to get out there again,
These are the Days
