It's good and it's bad, depends on what day it is. The municipal here on the island started a project last year to put in a sewer system. For those of you who don't know, that means we don't have one now. Well, actually we do. It's called the sea. Everything drains right out into the sea. If you are fortunate enough to have a house over the water, plumbing is simple. Hole in the floor, toilet on top, BAM, done! We shudder to think of this in this age, but it's been that way for centuries, even onger
As a young boy, I had the opportunity once to go shrimping off the coast of Mississippi where I was born. My uncle took me and my brothers and we went with Dominick Gospadonavich (I'm sure that is spelled wrong!). It was a small bay style shrimp boat and it had a flat rear deck with about a six-inch lip all around.
We started out pretty early in the morning, before sunrise, and I just thought it was the neatest thing. I don't remember exactly how old I was, but would have to guess that I was probably around 10-12. We put the nets out and we were just dragging them along, enjoying the day. I remember that my uncle had bought some donuts and I got one from the wheelhouse and I walked out and headed to the back of the boat. As I got to the back deck, there to my shock and surprise was Mr. Gospadonavich, britches down around his ankles, hanging his backside off the rear of the boat. He looked at me, grinned and said something that would be in my mind forever, "The sea's the biggest toilet in the world. I been usin' her all my life and I don't fill her up yet!" (Naturally as an old seaman, his language was just a bit more colorful than mine!)
That was it, imprinted forever in my mind. This one's going to the grave with me!
Tomorrow I will actually tell you why I even brought any of this up, I promise.
Pablo
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