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.

Opinions

I've always heard that opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. That is very true, but our assholes all basically work the same. But how we develop our opinions include so many different influences, that I'm amazed any two people can agree on anything. In this day and age I think people grasp onto something that stirs a strong emotion, hate, love, allegiance. Look at the political landscape and has it been this angry, this divided, in modern times? I had been a lifelong Republican, but with the coming of the Moral Majority, Rush Limbaugh, and the Christian Right I have quit the party. They have dispalyed no willingness to meet halfway, there is only their opinion, and the wrong opinions. Now the Democrats came to this party late, and only half armed. They tried with their own radio network and that failed.  They made multiple missteps in playing catchup. It surprises me how inept the Democratic party has been run. The world was there for their taking, and time after time, they dropped the ball. In 2004, Bush II gave them all the ammunition they needed, Al Gore gave them the platform they hadn't had in years, and they fumbled. 2008 brough change, had to be change, it wasn't anything the Democrats did. There was going to be a new President no matter what. Because of the lies and ineptitude of the Bush II administration, not to mention the adversarial attitude, the Dems rode the only horse in the race across the winner line. They held the Whitehouse, the Senate, and the House. They could write their own ticket, and what happened??? They seemed to mire themselves down. We did see a Stimulus package, and contrary to many people it was the right thing to do, actually should have been bigger. We got a very unpopular healthcare law. This piece of legislature is unpopular with the people, and the Dems insisted on pushing it through. When the midpoint of the Pres's term came around the backlash against him and the house was resounding. They had the country in their hands and they dropped it. Of course they had to deal with Republicans going against them, but it doesn't matter who is in charge, the other will go against them for their own ideals. The Dems really need a leader to take control of their party and get some order about how they deal with the public, and the Republicans. The Republicans are in a bad spot with the freaking Tea Party calling the shots. Do they really think that Sarah Palin is a great mind that lead this country into a new, and very different future?? Who else is there? Romney?? A devoted Mormon, a religion that believes if you do enough for the church here on earth, then you can become a god of your own world in the afterlife. A religion that believes Jesus and Satan are physical sons of God. That God has a wife and procreates just like we do, and this is just scratching the surface. So all of you Christian Rights out there, read a little on the good old Mormons, they will shock you. I don't know why anyone would want to be President in this day and age. The economy is a disaster and not likely to change for sometime. China represents probably the biggest problem for us to deal with. Their economy will become the world leader in just a few short years, they hold their currency at artificially low levels making it hard for the US to compete. They have hasd a successful espionage program and have secured much of the high technology that is vaulting them ahead today. They are throwing money at an alarming rate into their military, and it's beginning to pay off. We can be proud of our troops, but up against another army that is as well trained and well equipped, but outnumbers ours 5=1, well our boys will not fair well. Sooner, rather than later we will have to face off with them over Taiwan, it's just a matter of time, and china now has aircraft carriers. It's a dangerous time all the way around, and the future for the US isn't as bright as it used to be.