Grandma Beenie's Wisdom

I'm here in Anchorage, and it's been beautiful. I will try and update this a little more frequently, the last 3 days have been extremely hectic. The company put me up in hotel in the Northgate area of Seattle. All 8 of the other new observers that I am training with were put up there also. My room mate was a 27 year old,little blond haired Texan, Marine Biologist from Texas A&M Galveston. Within 3 minutes of meeting him, we were on our way to a local brewery down the street from the hotel. The kid has been working as a scuba instructor for the last three years off the coast of Spain and in the Florida keys. Quickly we bonded the best way I know how, over random sampling of local beer and shots of tequila. This gave me quick hope for the next three weeks. If all the other room mates and biologists end up being, well biologists, at least I'll have this cat that I know will be solid.

In the morning at the hotel I walked across the street, got some Starbucks, then just stood on the balcony out in front of my room taking in the last morning in the lower 48. This older woman walked by, gave each other passing howdies, then she stopped to take in a morning cigarette and we got to talking. She went by the name Grandma Beenie. She was a really sweet old woman who was in Seattle for the wedding of her niece. I told her of the trip I was about to embark on, and she started to tell me of some of the adventures she had taken with her husband before they married, and then with or because of her sons. She would not tell me why, but one of her sons was held up in an Amsterdam prison during a summer long backpacking trip across Europe, and she went to bail him out. Once he was out and cleared to leave the country, she decided to spend the next three weeks of his trip with him. You should have seen the eyes of this little old Grandma Beenie when she spoke of going in to clubs with her son in eastern Europe. After we exchanged more stories and before we parted I asked for some wisdom to help with my travels and dive into a new career. She dramatically took her last puff, put out her third cigarette and laid this on me; don't confuse change with progress. When that sweet old lady turned to me and stared me dead in my eye and told me that, it stopped me right in my tracks. Grandma Beenie gave me what I asked for, I was just surprised the wisdom that came from her mouth. What I lucky encounter. I spent the next 30 minutes outside on the stoop with Beenie while my room mate slept, this was the best part of my three days in Seattle.

I met the rest of the 8 new Observers that would spend the next 3 weeks in a two bedroom bunk house. Just next to our bunk is 8 more new Observers from another company, taking the same class as we are. All of us making sure that we are going to try and get as much interaction with like people before we spend the next 3 months out at sea knee deep in fish. It's great being around this many science nerds all with a need for excitement and with an adventitious bone in their body. All came here for different reasons, but close to the same.

I learned that I was wrong about the kind of boats I'll be on. All the fishing boats that fish in Alaska have Observers on board or have the potential to have one on board, even the crab boats seen on Deadliest Catch. The boats I'll be on are only catching Ground fish. Mainly I'll be on boats 80 to 160 feet, but some times maybe upwards to 600 feet long. Each day I get excited about the idea of being here in Alaska looking out at the beautiful green plush mountains that stretchs across from the west side to the east side. Some times its hard to stay focused in class. I catch myself staring out the window thinking about what the city and Alaska gulf would look like from a top Mt. McKinnley. Then I snap out of it and get back to learning about how the bureaucracy of the Alaskan fishing industry works, and what my place is in it. As the day drags on, more and more of the kids who are blessed enough to sit next to a window, get caught up in the same day dreaming I am fighting every hour. I watch them as they quickly realize they've missed the last two minutes of notes and glance over at their neighbors page to try and catch up. Today in class, we saw a slide show of the two main harbors that we will be working out of. My company will be mainly out of Dutch Harbor. The first photo was of the flight into the airport at Dutch Harbor. A tiny island at in the middle of the Aleutian islands surrounded by Glaciers, clear blue water that stretches for days, and nestled in by huge mountains which tower over the very edge of the city which is stretched from sea to mountain base. Every one's eyes grew wide and once again everyone realized quickly why it was that we had all flown from different parts of the globe, holding our Biology degree in hand, and begging to be let on these fishing boats knowing the inherent dangers and risks. Of course we could find some pond to look after and manage that wildlife, or fall into some desk job, but experiencing life amongst whales, seals, huge sturgeon, halibut, polar bears, and glaciers . . . nothing compares to that opportunity. Because of my conversation with Grandma Beenie, along with this realization, I am confident that I am making progress rather than mistaking it for nothing more than a change.

- Casey

P.S. , sorry mom, but it looks like the beard and curls are on their way back.