My Priceless Summer on a Maine Lobster Boat(outsideonline.com)
outsideonline.com
My Priceless Summer on a Maine Lobster Boat
https://www.outsideonline.com/2418783/my-priceless-summer-maine-lobster-boat
51 comments
Lobster fishing is one if the last fishing industries that is run by local fishermen and women rather than big corporate boats. They can do it that way because there’s a limit on how many licenses each fisherman can have, a limit on the number of licenses they give out, and also they throw back lobsters that are too big, too small, or have a history of being successful breeders (they notch the tail to mark those). So the fishery is sustainable. But the downside is that the licenses tend to run in families and you have to know someone to get one, so it’s not open to people coming in from out of state. You can get a special limited license to put 4 traps out as an amateur but the professionals are going to cut the lines on your traps, they hate four trappers invading their fishing territory. And if you go out raiding someone else’s lobster pots, they’re gonna shoot at you, so don’t do that!
Not sure this is true everywhere. Maybe in the northeast, but I grew up in a fishing village in Alaska and pretty much all of our coastal towns are fishing-dominated with many, many small boats in addition to the bigger trawler/processors.
We have a similar thing with the licensing. I inherited a limited entry permit from my father. It's like getting a taxi medallion in NYC. Being young and stupid I sold it to my best friend on zero percent interest and he paid me about 1% of the total price of the thing, then stopped paying. Never had the heart to chase him for it.
We have a similar thing with the licensing. I inherited a limited entry permit from my father. It's like getting a taxi medallion in NYC. Being young and stupid I sold it to my best friend on zero percent interest and he paid me about 1% of the total price of the thing, then stopped paying. Never had the heart to chase him for it.
>or have a history of being successful breeders (they notch the tail to mark those)
how does this work? you can tell whether a lobster is a "successful breeder" just on visual inspection?
how does this work? you can tell whether a lobster is a "successful breeder" just on visual inspection?
If they find one with eggs under its tail, then they notch the tail which basically gives the lobster a get out of the trap free card for 2 or 3 molts.
For a complementary point of view, please read my essay titled "My Horrifying Summer as a Maine Lobster."
David Foster Wallace actually wrote this essay, it's called "Consider the Lobster". I believe it caused a not-insignificant number of chefs to start killing the lobsters first instead of just boiling them alive.
You know how there are vacations that you can take where you work on a farm or have some kind of agricultural related activity? I have seen those kinds of things offered, but never in my life come across some similar offering to be on a boat and do some work as a "vacation". I love the sea and would jump at that chance.
But I guess, that's also called, "just working on a boat". I'm sure they'd love the free labor. And you'd go crazy at not being able to return for an extra week if the catch was going good (or really badly) I suppose.
But I guess, that's also called, "just working on a boat". I'm sure they'd love the free labor. And you'd go crazy at not being able to return for an extra week if the catch was going good (or really badly) I suppose.
I'm not a fisherman, but I personally know several and they're happy to take people out on a sunny days with nary a breeze. But there are many more days that aren't sunny and calm, and those days they wouldn't bring an inexperienced crew member on board regardless how cheap (or free) they are. Depending on where you are and what you're fishing for, it can be exceedingly dangerous and having the right experience can literally be the difference between life and death. They'd probably happily have you fix nets and cages though. :o)
No Black Harbour fans around here?
WOW that's pretty tonedeaf.
remember David Foster Wallace? "Consider the Lobster"?
Here's a reminder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fZOl7C_vDI
remember David Foster Wallace? "Consider the Lobster"?
Here's a reminder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fZOl7C_vDI
Maine in the summer is a magical place, but you really need a boat to experience it. There are great little islands/towns all over. If you end up on an island with only one restaurant, it makes it real easy to decide where to eat. Dodging all the lobster buoys is a real challenge to navigation, but eating lobster every day is worth it. If you see and island on the map with "haven" in the name, be sure to check it out.
I've lived on the border of New Hampshire and Maine for most of the last 45 years. I love seafood and even spent a summer working at a lobster pound. I just don't get the appeal of lobster. On the other hand... scallops. Whether they're fried, baked, sauteed or wrapped in bacon... the food of the gods. If it weren't for the environmental issues I'd eat them everyday.
To each their own!
To each their own!
If you lived in, say, Illinois, what would be the best way to get onto a boat for the summer in Maine?
Probably the via the Great Lakes and then St Laurence seaway - seems quicker than the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico but probably overall colder.
I had a couple great summers working as a trip leader for a summer camp. It was a pretty old-school no-electricity-for-the-kids experience. Lots of awesome dawn bike rides before breakfast, traversing bits of the Appalachian Trail, and planting seeds of socialist thought into the minds of children from extremely wealthy backgrounds.
Two actual conversations:
"So, Kevin, what do your parents do for a living?"
"Oh, you know, the usual... My dad's a neurosurgeon and my mom's an editor at the new york times."
---
"It's been a long eight weeks, Jimmy! Are you looking forward to seeing your parents?"
"Well... actually I'm heading to a six week music camp tomorrow."
Two actual conversations:
"So, Kevin, what do your parents do for a living?"
"Oh, you know, the usual... My dad's a neurosurgeon and my mom's an editor at the new york times."
---
"It's been a long eight weeks, Jimmy! Are you looking forward to seeing your parents?"
"Well... actually I'm heading to a six week music camp tomorrow."
I get that everyone needs money and all dollars are green even if you have to sell your soul to get them but these sorts of pro-tourism "look how quaint this local boutique industry is" articles really rub me the wrong way.
Quite a jaded view of the world. This is more that just a boutique industry - this is how a lot of our food makes it to our tables; the part that hasn't been relentlessly mechanized, automated, and conglomerated, anyways.
Is it a bit romanticized? Perhaps. But, there are thousands of these small-scale "boutique" operations around the country in all sorts of industries. How quickly we've forgotten that this is how it used to be done.
Is it a bit romanticized? Perhaps. But, there are thousands of these small-scale "boutique" operations around the country in all sorts of industries. How quickly we've forgotten that this is how it used to be done.
>Quite a jaded view of the world.
I grew up in one of these sorts of tourism places. Just because some people make a living doing Actual Things(TM) doesn't mean that having a large portion of the economy be tourism related does not have negative effects for pretty much everyone.
>this is how a lot of our food makes it to our tables;
And someone dicking around fixing heavy equipment in the mud is how the table became your table but you don't see people romanticizing the timber industry because for the most part it isn't associated with tourism the way waterfront communities (and by extension, their industries) are.
The fishing industry exists as much to give the tourists something to look at so the captains' wives/friends/relatives can run successful restaurants and bars (and fish the tourists wallets) as it does to pull edible animals out of the water. On a community level this is all pretty soul crushing because your existence is predicated on your ability to basically put on a show for others (i.e. look quaint) but pretend that you're just this quaint naturally.
I grew up in one of these sorts of tourism places. Just because some people make a living doing Actual Things(TM) doesn't mean that having a large portion of the economy be tourism related does not have negative effects for pretty much everyone.
>this is how a lot of our food makes it to our tables;
And someone dicking around fixing heavy equipment in the mud is how the table became your table but you don't see people romanticizing the timber industry because for the most part it isn't associated with tourism the way waterfront communities (and by extension, their industries) are.
The fishing industry exists as much to give the tourists something to look at so the captains' wives/friends/relatives can run successful restaurants and bars (and fish the tourists wallets) as it does to pull edible animals out of the water. On a community level this is all pretty soul crushing because your existence is predicated on your ability to basically put on a show for others (i.e. look quaint) but pretend that you're just this quaint naturally.
> On a community level this is all pretty soul crushing because your existence is predicated on your ability to basically put on a show for others (i.e. look quaint).
So, like all of Hollywood? : )
It seems like in your book, “putting on a show for others” is somehow a distasteful means of living. However, many people enjoy this lifestyle. Reinventing something as basic as fishing into an “experience” for tourists, most of who are likely city dwellers who would never get to experience this, seems like a win win to me, and honestly something we could get other industries involved in. You mention the timber industry... if there were places that would allow me to cut down trees with a chainsaw, I would actually be interested in that!
As more of human society urbanizes, we’re going to see a lot more demand for these “experiences”.
So, like all of Hollywood? : )
It seems like in your book, “putting on a show for others” is somehow a distasteful means of living. However, many people enjoy this lifestyle. Reinventing something as basic as fishing into an “experience” for tourists, most of who are likely city dwellers who would never get to experience this, seems like a win win to me, and honestly something we could get other industries involved in. You mention the timber industry... if there were places that would allow me to cut down trees with a chainsaw, I would actually be interested in that!
As more of human society urbanizes, we’re going to see a lot more demand for these “experiences”.
I had a long response typed out, but you said it better than I could. I think humans have a desire to work with their hands and see the fruits of those labor. As more and more of us push paper and sling 1's and 0's, we're losing that connection and seeing the outcome in things like "Experience" tourism and the romanticizing of hard work.
Look at what is popular on Youtube - 'mustie1' fixes junk with his hands in 30 minute videos for nearly 500k subscribers. 'Primitive Technology' replicate(d) societal development for 10.3M subscribers. Nobody is arguing that this work is hard. Sorry if the "theatre" of it bothers you, but I think it's a net societal benefit to help reconnect people back to "artisan" and "boutique" ways of living. We still need those people - think of tourism as a recruiting tool.
Look at what is popular on Youtube - 'mustie1' fixes junk with his hands in 30 minute videos for nearly 500k subscribers. 'Primitive Technology' replicate(d) societal development for 10.3M subscribers. Nobody is arguing that this work is hard. Sorry if the "theatre" of it bothers you, but I think it's a net societal benefit to help reconnect people back to "artisan" and "boutique" ways of living. We still need those people - think of tourism as a recruiting tool.
Because it's akin to slum tourism. The article appears to be written by a well to do author who takes on a hard blue collar job for a very short period of time. They then write about the unique and whimsical experience. We get treated to a cozy story about picturesque fishing villages as viewed through rose colored glasses.
Meanwhile the work is hard, dirty and dangerous for the people who do this for a living in order to survive day to day. The author gets to go back to their well to do life on a family owned island while the fishermen continue to toil at sea.
Meanwhile the work is hard, dirty and dangerous for the people who do this for a living in order to survive day to day. The author gets to go back to their well to do life on a family owned island while the fishermen continue to toil at sea.
The slum tourism point is a good one to keep in mind but you’re a little unfair to the fishermen here. There are many fishermen who choose the life because it’s what they love. They aren’t toiling away in the mines to put a scrap of bread on the table—they’re out on the water, working in their community, captaining their own boat and doing work that is strenuous but fulfilling.
Indeed, the author writes of the captain she worked for:
> Originally from Connecticut, she worked one summer on a whale-watching boat in Bar Harbor, saw the lobstermen, and thought: I want to do that, that looks real.
> Originally from Connecticut, she worked one summer on a whale-watching boat in Bar Harbor, saw the lobstermen, and thought: I want to do that, that looks real.
The unique and whimsical experiences seem to be a feature for her boat captain too, so that seems a little unfair.
And yes, the author does get to go back to her "well to do life", but she does not downplay the hardness, dirt or danger of this work.
Your position seems to suggest that you can't write about the sorts of things the author wanted to write about - the intersections between loneliness, isolation, community, friendship and work - unless you're not well-to-do and spend years or even a lifetime in a job.
I reject that perspective.
And yes, the author does get to go back to her "well to do life", but she does not downplay the hardness, dirt or danger of this work.
Your position seems to suggest that you can't write about the sorts of things the author wanted to write about - the intersections between loneliness, isolation, community, friendship and work - unless you're not well-to-do and spend years or even a lifetime in a job.
I reject that perspective.
I get where you're coming from, and this past decade has certainly been a masterclass in cynicism, but maybe take a step back.
Yes, the author is well-to-do, born to academic parents, through no fault of her own. What obligations does she have by virtue of that? Is the rule you propose that she should be prohibited from ever taking a blue collar job? Or only if she does so for a sufficiently long time?
Would the world or her perspective on it be improved if instead of spending her summer on a lobster boat she had spent it working at Starbucks?
Or is it just that she should be able to do these things but be prohibited from writing about them and sharing that? Would we be better off if we hadn't read this?
Sure, maybe she's viewing this through rose-colored glasses. But those are her glasses and that is her authentic perspective. Doesn't she have the right to experience it and share it? Or does one need to be born into a certain level of misery and poverty before they earn the right to write?
Yes, the author is well-to-do, born to academic parents, through no fault of her own. What obligations does she have by virtue of that? Is the rule you propose that she should be prohibited from ever taking a blue collar job? Or only if she does so for a sufficiently long time?
Would the world or her perspective on it be improved if instead of spending her summer on a lobster boat she had spent it working at Starbucks?
Or is it just that she should be able to do these things but be prohibited from writing about them and sharing that? Would we be better off if we hadn't read this?
Sure, maybe she's viewing this through rose-colored glasses. But those are her glasses and that is her authentic perspective. Doesn't she have the right to experience it and share it? Or does one need to be born into a certain level of misery and poverty before they earn the right to write?
for a very rough analogy, consider how programming (especially hacking) is portrayed in popular film/tv. usually it looks very little like what we actually do all day. it's not wrong per se (in the moral sense); it's just what people do to make entertaining content with a reasonable scope. at the same time, it's kind of a slap in the face to see this kind of content and realize that the makers either do not care enough about what we do to portray it accurately, or worse, they do understand and deliberately portray it differently because it would be boring for the audience otherwise.
it's a vaguely similar sort of problem with this type of article. the author probably didn't harm anyone by taking a quick stint on a fishing boat. I don't think writing and publishing the article harms anyone either. but at the same time it raises uncomfortable questions. would someone who makes their livelihood from fishing choose to write this sort of article? if they did, would they have an audience?
it's a vaguely similar sort of problem with this type of article. the author probably didn't harm anyone by taking a quick stint on a fishing boat. I don't think writing and publishing the article harms anyone either. but at the same time it raises uncomfortable questions. would someone who makes their livelihood from fishing choose to write this sort of article? if they did, would they have an audience?
> consider how programming (especially hacking) is portrayed in popular film/tv. usually it looks very little like what we actually do all day
That's because what we do would genuinely be boring to watch in a tv show or movie. I can think of exactly one time in my 12ish year career where a co-worker actively fought a malicious actor, and that was more entertaining than anything.
This is true of most jobs, present and past. Ever see a soldier or warrior with a sword strapped on their back and draw it out to do battle? Yeah, thats not a thing. It looks cool, but is physically impossible to do smoothly or single handedly with all but the shortest of swords.
Similar things can be said of archers, peasants, gypsies, police, journalists, etc.
While I am on a rant, the term "bohemian" when used for artistic hippy types is blatantly racist, and we have ignorant young French aristocrats to thank for it, but nobody actually cares.
Would a fisherman write such an article? No, because the article was about a transformative experience which defied expectations. A fisherman who has done naught else is not likely to have the same experience, but that doesnt change what the author did experience.
I don't see what is uncomfortable about that at all. /end long winded meandering rant that probably missed the point
That's because what we do would genuinely be boring to watch in a tv show or movie. I can think of exactly one time in my 12ish year career where a co-worker actively fought a malicious actor, and that was more entertaining than anything.
This is true of most jobs, present and past. Ever see a soldier or warrior with a sword strapped on their back and draw it out to do battle? Yeah, thats not a thing. It looks cool, but is physically impossible to do smoothly or single handedly with all but the shortest of swords.
Similar things can be said of archers, peasants, gypsies, police, journalists, etc.
While I am on a rant, the term "bohemian" when used for artistic hippy types is blatantly racist, and we have ignorant young French aristocrats to thank for it, but nobody actually cares.
Would a fisherman write such an article? No, because the article was about a transformative experience which defied expectations. A fisherman who has done naught else is not likely to have the same experience, but that doesnt change what the author did experience.
I don't see what is uncomfortable about that at all. /end long winded meandering rant that probably missed the point
I don't think your analogy holds up very well.
A more direct one would be if some liberal arts major did a coding bootcamp and wrote about their experience. I wouldn't be morally offended that they shared their small window into programming with the world. Sure, it would be limited in many ways and colored by their own biases. But the latter makes it more interesting.
I already know what programming is like for "real" programmers. Seeing what programming is like for someone outside of that tribe is actually pretty interesting.
A more direct one would be if some liberal arts major did a coding bootcamp and wrote about their experience. I wouldn't be morally offended that they shared their small window into programming with the world. Sure, it would be limited in many ways and colored by their own biases. But the latter makes it more interesting.
I already know what programming is like for "real" programmers. Seeing what programming is like for someone outside of that tribe is actually pretty interesting.
>Would the world or her perspective on it be improved if instead of spending her summer on a lobster boat she had spent it working at Starbucks?
I think the world would be a much better place if everyone (or at least everyone in America) had to spend at least 6 months in a minimum wage customer service job. If that were the case you'd hope we'd have far less entitled customers abusing workers who don't deserve any such treatment.
This is not to say that a summer on a lobster ship is worthless, but your choice of example is poor - yes, I do honestly believe that a summer at Starbucks seeing people on their worst behavior could do more to shape perspective than a summer of manual labor in relative isolation.
I think the world would be a much better place if everyone (or at least everyone in America) had to spend at least 6 months in a minimum wage customer service job. If that were the case you'd hope we'd have far less entitled customers abusing workers who don't deserve any such treatment.
This is not to say that a summer on a lobster ship is worthless, but your choice of example is poor - yes, I do honestly believe that a summer at Starbucks seeing people on their worst behavior could do more to shape perspective than a summer of manual labor in relative isolation.
Maybe that wasn't the best example, because if the author had done that and written an article about it, she'll still be accused of slumming.
Perhaps a better example would be her just lazing around her parents' houses.
Perhaps a better example would be her just lazing around her parents' houses.
People wanting another view of industrial fishing may be interested in this 1940s film from the UK about "drifting" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q76BDaWRsjs
No, she said it was a populated island, I’ll bet it was Peak’s. Lots of people live there, lots of lobster fishermen, real estate is a bit expensive but not California expensive and they have a little school house.
Cost of living is getting there though :(. Our Maine neighbors of lobstermen and other solidly middle class vacationers are being displaced by doctors and lawyers. Complete with stupid pissing contests between old vs new residents.
This year has all new problems though: Some people drove straight up from Florida and Texas then dropped by to chat within hours. What the bleeping bleep is wrong with you? Why are you here?!
This year has all new problems though: Some people drove straight up from Florida and Texas then dropped by to chat within hours. What the bleeping bleep is wrong with you? Why are you here?!
Yeah it’s true, the back side of the island is all McMansions, we were thinking about moving there in 2014 but I haven’t checked prices since then.
Imagine making money as a struggling journalist writing about an industry that supplies to high-end restaurants. The gall.
I didn’t get many marketing vibes from this. Sounded like a young writer experiencing something new
That was a nice read. The author writes well
If Maine fishing life is interesting to you, Linda Greenlaw's non fiction books, in particular "The Hungry Ocean", are authoritative, incisive, and make the quotidian compelling. A novel, "The Highliners" by William McCloskey, is a coming of age set in the Alaska commercial fishery. Also good. While fascinating and culturally rich, I think it's fair to say that small scale commericial fishing is a hard way make a marginal living. It's a privilege to have other options to get by.
This is really just normal life for a lot (most?) people.
Writing about life isn't the same as living life. That's always been true. This particular writing was of a quality that I think few of us could match. That it was about something fairly "normal" doesn't change that.
I also wonder just what aspects of what she wrote about you consider "normal". Maine has a small population, there are very few fishermen working today. What are the elements here that are "just normal life for a lot(most?) people" ?
I also wonder just what aspects of what she wrote about you consider "normal". Maine has a small population, there are very few fishermen working today. What are the elements here that are "just normal life for a lot(most?) people" ?
"What are the elements here that are "just normal life for a lot(most?) people" ?"
Fishing is one of the absolute most ancient forms of tradecraft, dating back 10's of thousands of years and basically universal in the human condition.
There is a port in Nice, France, for small boats (it's a natural harbour) and a fish market there a few times a week that that has been going on, fairly uninterrupted for thousands of years. Literally you buy buy fish on the same terms as Phoenicians and Greeks before the Roman Empire.
The livelihoods surrounding most of these trades, and frankly most 'working people' is extremely common and normative, and could hardly be Romanticized by anyone but a fairly small (but growing) group of people living in modernist bubbles, almost detached from the entire history of 'common culture'.
The writing is nice, but the perspective of the alien observer, an 'outsider' to what would otherwise be be literally normative life for regular people, is almost a little eerie.
Fishing is one of the absolute most ancient forms of tradecraft, dating back 10's of thousands of years and basically universal in the human condition.
There is a port in Nice, France, for small boats (it's a natural harbour) and a fish market there a few times a week that that has been going on, fairly uninterrupted for thousands of years. Literally you buy buy fish on the same terms as Phoenicians and Greeks before the Roman Empire.
The livelihoods surrounding most of these trades, and frankly most 'working people' is extremely common and normative, and could hardly be Romanticized by anyone but a fairly small (but growing) group of people living in modernist bubbles, almost detached from the entire history of 'common culture'.
The writing is nice, but the perspective of the alien observer, an 'outsider' to what would otherwise be be literally normative life for regular people, is almost a little eerie.
So sure, fishing is something humans have done for a long time.
But hardly any human beings at all (as a percentage of the population, certainly) now take part in this activity.
Growing food was once the preoccupation of almost every human being alive - in the USA it now employs around 1% of the population, and most people have almost no understanding of how to grow food at all (and certainly could not farm, evne if they have a small garden).
The working activities described in the essay has almost no relationship with normal life for the vast majority of people living in industrialized countries around the world.
But hardly any human beings at all (as a percentage of the population, certainly) now take part in this activity.
Growing food was once the preoccupation of almost every human being alive - in the USA it now employs around 1% of the population, and most people have almost no understanding of how to grow food at all (and certainly could not farm, evne if they have a small garden).
The working activities described in the essay has almost no relationship with normal life for the vast majority of people living in industrialized countries around the world.
" hardly any human beings at all (as a percentage of the population, certainly) now take part in this activity."
Of course - my point is that these are very common, old, normative activities, the type of which most people are around quite a lot. It could have been carpentry.
People 'work for the summer' on 'these types of jobs' all the time, there's generally not a lot to write about.
Of course - my point is that these are very common, old, normative activities, the type of which most people are around quite a lot. It could have been carpentry.
People 'work for the summer' on 'these types of jobs' all the time, there's generally not a lot to write about.
And my point is that these are not very common activities in industrialized societies.
I don't what you mean by "around quite a lot" ... I suspect that very few people have been within 100' of any carpentry for their entire lives.
Working for the summer in jobs like this is mostly the preserve of college students, and only a small fraction of them at that - most will do very different kinds of summer jobs, if they do them at all (there's lots of evidence that those kinds of summer jobs are now taken by adults already in the workforce).
Maybe you live in a more rural area that has lots of this sort of work available and lots of people doing it. As far as I know, that is unusual, and not "normative" for most of the population.
There's normally a lot to write about no matter how "normative" or even mundane one's life is. It's not about the activities per se, but about how you reflect on them and connect them with other aspects of living. A classic example would be a book like "House" by Tracey Kidder, which documents in huge detail and considerable philosophical diversions a process that I suspect you would claim happens so frequently and repetitively that it's not worth writing about. Millions of people disagreed with you.
I don't what you mean by "around quite a lot" ... I suspect that very few people have been within 100' of any carpentry for their entire lives.
Working for the summer in jobs like this is mostly the preserve of college students, and only a small fraction of them at that - most will do very different kinds of summer jobs, if they do them at all (there's lots of evidence that those kinds of summer jobs are now taken by adults already in the workforce).
Maybe you live in a more rural area that has lots of this sort of work available and lots of people doing it. As far as I know, that is unusual, and not "normative" for most of the population.
There's normally a lot to write about no matter how "normative" or even mundane one's life is. It's not about the activities per se, but about how you reflect on them and connect them with other aspects of living. A classic example would be a book like "House" by Tracey Kidder, which documents in huge detail and considerable philosophical diversions a process that I suspect you would claim happens so frequently and repetitively that it's not worth writing about. Millions of people disagreed with you.
" these are not very common activities in industrialized societies"
Of course they are.
They're just regular jobs.
If you live near the ocean, there are people who fish, if you live inland, there are people who farm - and the myriad of various related activities. And a million mundane things in between. And no, they're definitely not the 'providence of college kids'.
Having grown up around 'house builders', no, I don't really think there's that much philosophical insight in that activity either, but for those who don't have any of those skill and want to try it out, I'm sure it would be an interesting exercise.
Of course they are.
They're just regular jobs.
If you live near the ocean, there are people who fish, if you live inland, there are people who farm - and the myriad of various related activities. And a million mundane things in between. And no, they're definitely not the 'providence of college kids'.
Having grown up around 'house builders', no, I don't really think there's that much philosophical insight in that activity either, but for those who don't have any of those skill and want to try it out, I'm sure it would be an interesting exercise.
Most people do not live near enough to an ocean to be aware in any real sense of the day to day activities associated with fishing. And even if they do somehow see signs of fishing activity, they almost certainly have very little idea of what day to day life as a fisherman is like.
Again, I repeat that agriculture in our society employs about 1% of the population. Even those who live in rural America (as I do these days) don't pick up farming by osmosis. Most people who live even in rural America do not farm, or work on a farm. They are just not that familiar with this kind of work (which is partly the cause and partly the result of the reality that most farm workers in the US now are migrant labor from latin american countries).
I don't know who else does "summer jobs" anymore if it's not college kids. Maybe ski/surf bums filling in the off months? We can probably count the number of them, and its likely less than a mid-size American city in total.
Sounds like you might want to read "House". Tracey Kidder pulled the same magic in "Soul of a New Machine", the now-classic book about the engineering of an (old) new computer. "House" is an amazingly deep meditation of the design and construction of modern American family home. Or maybe just read "Fine Homebuilding" for a while - not so heavy on the philosophy but hints of it here and there.
I just can't really get it into my head what country you're talking about. I travel all over the USA (just did 4500 miles) and this land in which fishing, farming and carpentry are the jobs that most people do is invisible to me.
Again, I repeat that agriculture in our society employs about 1% of the population. Even those who live in rural America (as I do these days) don't pick up farming by osmosis. Most people who live even in rural America do not farm, or work on a farm. They are just not that familiar with this kind of work (which is partly the cause and partly the result of the reality that most farm workers in the US now are migrant labor from latin american countries).
I don't know who else does "summer jobs" anymore if it's not college kids. Maybe ski/surf bums filling in the off months? We can probably count the number of them, and its likely less than a mid-size American city in total.
Sounds like you might want to read "House". Tracey Kidder pulled the same magic in "Soul of a New Machine", the now-classic book about the engineering of an (old) new computer. "House" is an amazingly deep meditation of the design and construction of modern American family home. Or maybe just read "Fine Homebuilding" for a while - not so heavy on the philosophy but hints of it here and there.
I just can't really get it into my head what country you're talking about. I travel all over the USA (just did 4500 miles) and this land in which fishing, farming and carpentry are the jobs that most people do is invisible to me.
Maybe, but I'm not at all interested in reading about what a normal life is for me, I want to read about different experiences.