Fish Karma

Jerry used to go sports fishing. He had a boat that was big enough to cruise around the San Juan Islands fishing lines in tow while he and fishing buddies drank beer and generally had a good time. If they caught a salmon, they would clean it before they left the dock. I'm not sure if catching a fish really made the day better. (And by 'fish' I mean salmon because nothing else counted.) But if they caught a fish, it would be cleaned, frozen, then given away to somebody who might actually eat it. I don't like salmon, unless it is smoked.
We usually had one salmon feed every summer. Jerry would fire up the BBQ, drench the fish in butter and lemon, then everyone would drink beer all afternoon. Now that I think about it, beer is an integral part of salmon experience.
If this sounds like a very expensive hobby, I have described it correctly. Jerry gave away tons of salmon over the years. I don't know what it costs in stores, but Jerry's salmon must have been of the highest quality because it probably cost over a hundred dollars a pound. The cost of beer counted because fishermen need to keep hydrated out on the salt water.
We sold the boat about fifteen years ago, so you would think that salmon was out of my life. But no, there is always about ten pounds of salmon in the freezer because Jerry, once the giver of salmon, now receives it from his fishing friends. Like Jerry, his friend spends huge amounts of money to sports fish, fills his freezer with salmon, then looks for someone to give it to before he goes on his next fishing trip.
I call this fish karma. What you give, you get back tenfold.
But I just thought of something. I'm going to get one of those little, backyard smokers. I wonder if beer is required to use one.
Nancy Sherer