Five Fish(ish) Stories

1. The very first time Roger and I tried fishing (up Diamond Fork Canyon), we were caught off guard when we actually caught a fish. The hook was stuck. I ran frantically up the bank of the river to get a pair of pliers out of the truck while Roger held the fish in the water. It all worked out, but I was marked by trauma.
2. Last summer Jack and I were at Lake Geneva and we'd brought his fishing pole. I actually put worms on the hook for him (there is not another soul in this world I would do that for). He caught one fish. The hook stuck in its throat. The fish died. He caught a second fish. Same thing. Then I learned that you're just supposed to clip the line and throw the fish back and the hook will dissolve over time. Too late. I was marked by trauma again. This summer we did not fish.
   
   
3. About 12 years ago, Roger and I picked up my sister Maryann in Tucson and we headed to Baja, Mexico, in our Jeep. We stopped for a couple of nights in San Ignacio, thinking we'd go whale watching nearby. Instead, I got very sick the first night, held my stomach all day the next day and into the next night. I ultimately survived, and we went whale watching the day after that, but, wow, I can still remember how sick I felt. I'm pretty sure it was the fish I'd had for dinner.
   
4. When I was in college, my family took a trip to Akumal, Mexico. (Where, by the way, I ate fresh fish every single night without incident.) I took a scuba diving resort course and enjoyed several dives, including one to about 75 feet. It was on that dive that I suddenly found myself alone except for a huge sea turtle. I'm sure my diving buddy was just behind me, but I couldn't see a single human being. For a few seconds I swam behind it, but there was no way I could keep up with it. I was in awe.
5. Again in college, I had a bowl with two goldfish. One day I decided to clean the bowl. I scooped the fish out of the bowl with a big spoon to transfer them to another container. I didn't really think about the fact that I was transferring them over a sink full of soapy water until one of them flopped off the spoon and disappeared in the bubbles. I threw the spoon down to try to rescue the fish in the sink, not realizing that the other fish had landed on the kitchen floor and was gawping for air. I couldn't let the sink drain because of the garbage disposer. So I started scooping handfuls of bubbles out of the sink until I could see the fish and grab it. Then I grabbed the other fish off the floor, put them both in the bowl and watched them survive!