11/21/2004

Shrimp Decapitation, etc...

I realize it’s LONG overdue, my post about my escapades. But first things first.

Just a reminder to get your questions in before Tuesday 12:01am Pacific Time for this week’s Inquisition. Now, on to my promised post!

It involves a new (!) fast and powerful twin engine boat, the sea, me, wind in my hair, loads of laughing, sandy beach, and... me fishing successfully! It also involves some shrieking and fits on Monster’s part, AS USUAL, but I will keep that to as much as a minimum as possible. Oh ok, and a fair amount of cussing at fish on my part, but hey! It worked to some extent.) Where to begin?

Well, first, N, remember her? The hamster owner from a previous post? Well, she called her cousin, who has the previously mentioned boat and arranged for a day out since my friend Nooshi is visiting us still. (Love her!) So out we went, or so we thought. But first? Monster had to have a big-ass hissyfit. Oh yes! You see, we are NOT ALLOWED to go out and have fun. Oh no siree. For example, the previous night? We had gone to a friends house for a quiet evening and some drinks, and chatting and music. Z, Nooshi, and myself. We were out till 2am. Thank you to ‘P’ for the lovely evening AND the delicious bottle of White Cabernet Sauvignon he graciously let me finish ALL BY MYSELF. (I didn’t realize it, but he kept refilling)*grin* . He’s such a sweetheart, really. Anyhooo, on the way home, Z gets a message (designated driver that he was) from his sister saying are we all ok, and that their mom is calling her nonstop wondering where we are. Pissed is more like it. Anyway, before he can reply at the next red-light, the mobile rings… it’s sis. What follows next is a minute by minute blow by blow of our whole day. See, she has been having FITS about us actually going out and having fun most nights. Especially for not taking her along. Ugh. I’m sorry. But if ANYONE comes to stay with me, you will be taken care of and entertained properly, dammit! There isn’t LOADS to do in Bahrain, granted, but I’ll figure something out. So. She was PISSED. Again. (This has been a nightly thing going on, btw.) Her excuse is that she should be informed of where we all go and with whom, what we do, and ETA also. (I can hear you all cussing all the way over here… yes, you Carrie, Cheryl, and Hula!) Did I neglect to mention it’s Z’s 40th B-day today? HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY. (Yes, a 40-year old man is supposed to report to his mommy his whereabouts and goings on.) As is he tells her practically anything.

So. He told her we were going to the beach. (a white lie. Didn’t mention the boat or anything else, OR who was going). When she heard the word beach….. She freaked the hell out. Started screaming and shrieking and throwing and slamming things. Cussing at… well, me as usual (but that is NOTHING compared to the special curses/hexes thrown my way this evening) but everything in general about us going out all the time. Then, when she saw that N (hamsters) was coming… she really freaked. Yes, she loathes this particular granddaughter almost equally with me. THAT is really saying something, believe me. I grabbed Arianna and hustled her and Nooshi and N out of the house. Yes, Arianna just shakes her head and told Nooshi “She’s a psycho old lady, try and ignore her screams… I know it’s hard. I wish she would shut UP.”. (Out of the mouths of babes)

We all took off praying we didn’t all drown at sea from the curses raining down on our heads.
We arrived at the resort where Captain keeps his boat moored. It’s actually one of my favorite places in Bahrain. Perhaps because when you are there, it doesn’t feel like you are still IN Bahrain any more, but have actually gone somewhere else. I admit, despite all the hassle when leaving, I was really looking forward to this. I had spent a lot of my young years on boats and being on the water during my summer visitations with my Dad. Each summer we would go with his friend that owned a boat for about a week or so and have a good time clowning around. It was on one of these trips that I got my nerve up WAAY too late to try my hand at water-skiing. By the time I got my feet in the skiis and my fist on the rope, the water had become horribly choppy……. I think you can guess what happened! Anyway, I have lots of fond memories, like of clamming, which is really such a blast (especially when there are manatees in the water around you). I love clamming and fishing, just not eating the fruits of the endeavors is all! I saw my first space shuttle launch from the deck of a boat in fact.

Onto the boat we went, gassed up the fuel tanks and we were off full throttle! Ahhhh! So great! The engines and boat were 3 months old or so, and real powerful. Wooohoooo! A lovely GPS so we didn’t get lost and loud music blaring on the stereo system! Wind in my hair and the sun shining and a big old grin on my face. Nothing calms me quite like the sea.

During the trip to an island that belongs to Bahrain, Nooshi and I were really in hysterics at Z and N’s antics in the bow of the boat. They were getting all the “turbulence”… haa. And Z was acting all naughty, as usual. He and N were flopping around in the front, hanging on to the railing and then, in a calm moment, he reached over when the wind flipped up her tshirt in back and gave her the worst massive wedgie I’ve ever seen in my life. I was howling with laughter. Well, Captain, her cousin and Nooshi were also cracking up as well. I swear, he pulled the waistband of her undies up to her bra strap. The look of horror on her face was priceless.
When we arrived at the island it was actually a narrow strip of sand that when the tide is in is completely covered by water, but when the tide is out, you can walk quite a long distance. There were yachts moored everywhere. Big ‘uns. Really gorgeous. So, out onto the powdery white sand we trooped. We took photos for Noosh to take back home with her and then… I started my sea shell hunting and strolling along the water’s edge with the waves lapping gently at the shore. It was so lovely and relaxing. Quiet and peaceful. We stayed for quite a while. Then decided to go out into the deeper water for a bit, and then ended up fishing.
By now the sun was beginning to set in the sky. The colors were absolutely beautiful. My favorite time of day has always been sunset. If I catch it, I will stop what I’m doing to watch it whenever possible. The pinks and oranges and pale blues fading to lavender and darker purple were gorgeous. As the boat skimmed across the water I watched the sun sink into the horizon from the captains bench behind the wheel.

Now it was time for fishing. Yaaaaay! Yes, we fished in the dark. It was actually quite good and very peaceful and relaxing.

I was fishing freehand... which means no pole, just a role of fishing wire and a hook and weight on the end... oh yeah, and some fresh shrimp dangling, even though the boat was equipped with special equipment welded into the frame of the boat for catching BIG fish. I was happy with my simple line. I caught 5 fish in about an hour or so. (actually 7, but 2 were too small and got tossed back in) 2 of them looked like a type of pike fish and were, quite frankly, kinda ugly. Also? It had sharp teeth and one kind of squealed a bit. I felt bad for that one. One was about as long as your forearm and the other a bit longer and fatter. The other 3 were a different type, local to the gulf. I also got in a fight with a couple of the pike type fish.... he won, big old bastard. (Bait, hook and all. But it was a big sucker). N also had good luck and kept getting fish as well.

Some of you may be wondering what happened to the fresh fish that was caught. Now remember y’all, Scarlett likes fishing but does not like FISH. NO FISH. Ew. Unless they are in a movie, an aquarium, on the end of my hook, or... no, that's about it. So. The male cousin who's boat it was, Captain, cousin of N (aka Hamster Owner who also was there), got possession of said fish.

About the decapitation comment and why Captain got the fish? Now, while I like fishing immensely (HAH! Z caught NOTHIN! Poor baby, but he DID set up an apparent all-you-can-eat buffet for the critters in the sea) I do not like TOUCHING them, nor the shrimp that was used for bait. Why? Well, when you get right down to it? I’m such a girly girl. While I may like fishing, clamming, playing basketball, etc.. I’m not much for, um, touching squishy stinky fish, so to speak. Ok, at ALL. Soooooooooo, Captain was baiting my hook, ok and hooking my line when I lost my fight with said pike-ish fish, and since the shrimp was FRESH, ie: whole. he was fixing my line all pretty like. ie: now we get to the shrimp decapitation part. Meaning, it will be a cold day in hell before I can stand there and calmly rip the head off the shrimp, toss it overboard, then rip off the tail, and toss that over the side also, then shove a very sharp and small hook in it JUST SO. So. Captain got my fishies. Capiche? Gawd, they were flapping about forever... taking forever to DIE. How sad. That didn't stop me from cussing a blue streak at the fucking pike fish that got all the way to the boat and into the air and THEN, the asshole broke my line, hook AND SHRIMP in mouth and plopped down in the water. The pig. It was HUGE. I'm sure it was him that came and ate my bait twice afterwards. grrrrr. One big fish as I was reeling it in hand over hand- it was heavy- well, said fish got cussed at under my breath in Persian but good. Captain was standing next to me laughing his ass off at my verbal assault of the fish that was fighting me. Heh.
But I won, and into the bag it went!

Otherwise, when I was just standing with my feet apart and braced against the waves that made the boat bob in the water while waiting for a bite on my line, I would do one of two things: 1) I would close my eyes and listen to the tranquil sound of the waves splashing the hull, or 2) watching the reflection of the moon and strong clear moonlight rippling on the water and occasionally looking up at the clear sky at the stars.
All to soon it was time to go back in and head home. The ride in was nice, the breeze off the water balmy, not cold. All in all, I haven’t been so at peace and had such a lovely day in ages. Yes, it even topped my beach visit a week ago.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Sounds like quite a lovely weekend. It reminds me of when I was 15 and my family went to Miami Beach to visit family friends. They owned a condo right on the beach and had a boat. They took us out on the boat and I got to drive the boat for a bit. That was SUCH an exilerating experience.

Your monster in law would hate me even more than she hates you because I would purposely drive her crazy. When she'd curse me, I'd patronizingly tell her she shouldn't curse herself like that. Or I'd smile serenly and say "I'm sorry you feel that way." Generally treat her like a senile retard. Because she deserves it.

But reading your stories about Monster make me so glad my own husband doesn't speak to his mom. I couldn't deal with that. But I don't have a great relationship with my mom, either. I'll have to post again in a bit with my question.
-Carrie Jo

Scarlett Cyn said...

I've got my answers ready for the Confession post. I'm just waiting for Carrie Jo's question to add it in when she gives it. I'll give her a couple of hours to give it to me before I go ahead and post. If she gets it in after that, i'll go ahead and answer it later today seperately. (I'm so accomodating, huh?) Heh.

Cheryl hon, I wish I had a boat like that. Must be damn nice, I tell ya! If the weather is good, we just might all go out again on Thursday afternoon. Wheeee.

Unknown said...

OK, here's my question: What is your idea of Afterlife? How do you picture it? And do you believe in reincarnation? OK, that's three, but they're all related!
-Carrie Jo