A story from my past

Epiphany
     My first thought was, “That is one big eye”. I had fallen into a trance of sorts looking at this eye. I began to see the incredible intelligence behind it, and began to understand the fascination people have with whales.
     Let me begin a little earlier in the day. It was a Sunday morning, warm, sunny, and the ocean was calm off the coast of Hampton Beach, NH. It was normal for Danny and I to spend 3-4 days a week on the water, and this day we had decided to go farther out than normal. In a 23’ Cuddy you stay close to the coast, and if you do head farther out, you keep a very close eye on the weather. Many sportsmen have been lost to the sea thinking their little boats could handle the swells. We, or I should say Danny, decided we would follow a chain of Isles out 5-6 miles and see what might be out there on this beautiful day.
     Loading the boat according to my good friend always included some food, usually sandwiches, beer, Miller Lite for him and Busch for me, Fuel was always a financially painful event, and bait. The most important ingredient Danny insisted on, and frankly how could I disagree, were young ladies. As eventful as that day became to me, I couldn’t tell you the girls names, or what they looked like.
     We headed out of the bay, Seabrook Nuclear power plant dominated the western horizon, at night it is well lit and one young lady upon seeing the plant lit up on our way back into the bay, stated that it looked like a great castle. Castle or not, I always wondered why I chose to live so close to such a potentially dangerous place.
      I took the helm and we headed out the mouth of the bay, a quick cruise down the beach to make those poor suckers on the beach wish they had a boat, or in my case, a friend with a boat, and then on to follow the Isles. The sea around the upper northeast coast of America is very rocky, there are many slightly submerged rock barriers. In my time in New Hampshire I saw many boats ripped open by these rocks by someone unfamiliar with the terrain, showing off, or just too damn drunk to be driving. Cautiously, I used the depth finder and Loran to wind my way around all these dangers.  Following the Isles took us nearly 3 hours to get 6 miles off the coast, surprisingly the ocean was just as calm out here as it had been just off the shore.
     The first whale scared me, I’m a Midwesterner, what do I know about whales? The whale leapt straight up clearing ¾’s of it’s body, and then slamming back down. I cut the engine and we all stood amazed at what just happened. We started noticing the telltale puffs of mist all around as the whales breach for air. These were Humpback whales, and considerably larger than our little boat. But the closest the Humps got to us was roughly 150’, still it was amazing.
     We sat down, passed around some sandwiches and beers. No one really ate, this was just too exciting, but I can’t say the same for the beer. I believe they went down faster due to the excitement of a sight that you just do not see that often, if ever. I was sitting, leaning over the side, beer in hand when a dark shape went right under the boat. Now, having read Moby Dick as a child my first reaction was that we are going to die. But what I like to call my common sense, but more truthfully, the amount of beer I had already consumed aided in keeping me calm, even as this creature swam up to the side and stopped with that big eye looking right at me. This curious fellow was a Minke whale, the smallest of the whales at 25’. He was as big as our boat, and the most beautiful thing I had ever seen with all those barnacles covering him like a bad case of acne. I didn’t say a thing, just stared, smiled and giggled as we connected. I knew in those moments that there was a higher being above us somewhere. There is just too much awe and wonder, like this whale in this world to say it was by chance. I felt as close to that creature at that time, as I have ever felt with anyone, and it changed me in how I looked at the world. No longer did my world revolve around myself, but I accepted my small little place in nature, society, and life. It was my epiphany.