Would You Like to Have a Pet Lobster?

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Would You Like to Have a Pet Lobster?

If you have been reading “My Encounters” for the last two weeks, you know about my vacation in Maine.  One of the things Maine is famous for is lobster.  Fishermen caught a total of 125,953,876 pounds of lobster in 2013.  I felt prompted to write about it on an early morning walk to the Port of Portland.  I was hoping to catch and photograph some action.  Instead of finding boats unloading lobsters, I found barrels filled with dead fish covered with salt (apparently lobster season normally starts in June).  Talking to locals, I learned that lobsters prefer dead salted red fish, herring or mackerel, which are used as bait.  Those fish come from different states like New Jersey, packed into barrels and delivered to about 6,000 licensed lobstermen all over Maine. I found some intriguing information online on this site, “100 Fun Facts About Lobsters”.  I learned that if a lobster is not caught (or released because it is already too big), it could grow up to four feet and weigh as much as 40 pounds.  And, if it is very lucky, and has enough food at the bottom of the ocean, where they usually reside, lobster can live for over 100 years.  Here are some additional fun facts I discovered: Lobsters were once considered the poor man’s chicken.  They are a great source of protein and omega 3 fatty acids, and if you hold the butter, lobsters are not fattening.  In Colonial times, lobster was fed to pigs and goats.  Lobsters were once so plentiful that after storm, they would wash ashore in deep piles.  Lobsters will, quite literally drown in fresh water.  They are not very friendly, but some people do keep lobsters as pets.  While reading this, I thought of a story.

A man bought a fish tank, filled it with sea water and placed a lobster inside it.  His friend asked what his purpose was with the lobster.  “Well, I heard that they live one hundred years. I would like to find out if this is true.” (In the original story the lobster was a turtle.)

P.S. Like other shellfish, lobsters are bottom feeders, and are not kosher according to the culinary requirements of Jewish Law.  I do not eat lobsters, but while eating at the restaurant which serves them, I had a great opportunity to photograph them.  The salmon I ordered, by the way, was quite delicious.

P.P.S. On Memorial Day, my wife suggested going to the movies.  She gave me three choices.  One of them was “The Lobster”.  I chose this one because I thought I would have some insights for my story.  This was the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen.  It is labeled a “black comedy”, and it was too black for me.

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Cheers,

Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />                                                               Signature

The Husband Always Has the Last Word

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The Husband Always Has the Last Word

Last week I wrote about a short vacation trip we took to Ogunquit, Maine.  To get there we flew from New York to Portland, Maine. On our way back, we decided to stay in Portland for a few extra days to explore Maine’s largest city with a population of over 500,000.  On our visit, we met very friendly people, and the food was very good as well.  We stayed at the Hyatt Hotel in the Old Port district, which is made up of many old brick buildings, with restaurants and boutiques.  We visited the Portland Museum of Art, which had an interesting art collection, and Elfa did her share of bargain hunting to help the local economy.

On the first night, we had dinner at the Fore Street Restaurant, which was recommended by the Fodor’s Travel Guide, and we were not disappointed.  We sat next to a couple, and I used the opportunity to clandestinely photograph the guy with a long beard.  After I got satisfactory results and showed it to them, it was very easy to start a conversation, and to acquire new friends.  Scott’s ancestors came to Maine on the third ship after The Mayflower, which arrived in New England in 1620.  He and Rhonda were celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary.  Suddenly, he told me “Look on her face now”.  At this moment he started to unbutton his shirt to reveal the tee-shirt underneath with the magic words “Yes, Dear”.  The man was mature enough to know that to make a good marriage, the husband always has the last words, and it is “Yes, Dear.”

For me this trip was an opportunity to relax, to observe and meet new people, to take photographs and to write.  I started working on my next book titled “Retirement Solutions for Smart People.  5 Easy Ways to Enjoy Your Golden Age”.  It was not a coincidence, but in the morning I was writing about how in planning for retirement, husbands need to listen to their wives.  And after all the agreements and disagreements, his last words are “Yes, Dear”.

Enjoy and Share.

P.S. Because people are so friendly here, it is very easy to photograph those whom I encountered.  But you have to come here to check it out.  Meanwhile enjoy these images.

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Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />                                                               Signature

A Beautiful Place By The Sea

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A Beautiful Place By The Sea

Have you heard about a place called Ogunquit, located in Maine?  Neither did I, until a few months ago my wife Elfa informed me that if we do not take a three days’ vacation, the points of our time-share will expire, and it would be a shame to lose them.  She also told me that she had found an exchange at a resort in Maine, one of the States on our list of places to visit.  When I looked at the map, I realized that Maine could be a part of Canada, since most of the land borders with Quebec.  Its population is only 1,328,361, and is the 42 most populous state in the United States., while California is Number 1 with 37,253,956 inhabitants.  In terms of bodies of water, Maine is ranked 12th in the nation, while California is #6.  There is water everywhere.  The resort area where we stayed was a few residential blocks away from access to the sea.  When I walked there early in the morning, I found a huge beach with calm waters.

Although the weather was very nice, there were just a few people there.  The tourist season was due to start at the end of May and lasts until the end of September.  During this time, all the area will be filled with visitors, who flock there to experience the beauty of nature. The name Ogunquit in the Abenaki language, which was spoken long ago in Quebec and Maine, means “beautiful place by the sea”.  We drove on the road that winds along the water, visited picturesque little towns, and ended up in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which is about a thirty minute drive from there.  But many food establishments had a CLOSED sign on the door, since it was before the tourist season started.  To taste the local ROCOCO ice cream (which was very good), we drove 15 miles to Kennebunkport.  This port town was incorporated in 1651, and today this area is the location of summer homes of the 41st President Mr. and Mrs. Bush, as well as their son Jeb Bush and many others who is whos, judging by the huge mansions along the road.

On a morning walk through the marsh land bordering the sea with my camera in hand, listening to the chirping birds, looking at the young green leaves just appearing on the tree branches, and the brown, old ones on the ground, noticing new flowers pushing themselves through soft ground, I realized that it looked like any other place or state we have visited in the spring.  I had a similar experience back at home on The Sea Ranch as well.  Then I thought, “Why do we always want to go far away and visit other countries, if everywhere we go looks so familiar?”  I think the answer was given by the Russian poet Vladimir Soloukhin.  In one of his poems he writes, “To live on the earth with the soul striving to the sky,” and in another he describes the different experiences we have in our lives, and then asks, “O.K., what is left for us in life?” and answers, “The joy of anticipation”.  I just carry along my photo camera on my journeys to capture a small sliver of my experiences with one purpose, to share with you the joy I feel in my heart.

Enjoy and Share.

P.S.  Unfortunately, because of my lack of skills and even the possibility to capture the beauty, I think you would still have to come and to experience it here yourself.  Meanwhile, these four images reflect the natural beauty created by nature itself.

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Cheers,

Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />                                                               Signature

How Big Is the Big Apple?

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How Big Is the Big Apple?

We recently traveled to Portland, Maine for a short vacation.  To get there from San Francisco, we had to fly to New York.  The first time I visited New York City was in 1978, while still living in Israel.  When we were considering moving to the United States for my MBA studies in 1980, we were deciding between New York City, where my close childhood friend was living, and who would help us start our new lives in a new country, or San Francisco, where my wife’s childhood friend lived.  My wife Elfa turned New York down, thus we ended up in San Francisco.

Elfa used to be afraid to go to New York, and ironically both of our daughters ended up studying and living there for many years.  Our eldest daughter Alona received her Master’s degree from Columbia University, while her sister Tamar received her Bachelor’s degree from the Tisch School of the Performing Arts, at NYU.  As a result, we traveled to Manhattan many times to visit our daughters.

After the Dutch bought the island from the Native Americans in 1626, they named it New Amsterdam.  In 1664, the British seized the island from the Dutch and gave it a new name – New York City.  It served as the capital of the United States from 1785 to 1790.  One of the first groups of different people and nations, who today populate this area, were Jews.  In September 1654, twenty-three Jews from the Netherlands, who were originally from Recife, Brazil, then a Dutch colony, arrived in New Amsterdam.  Today some experts believe that as many as 800 languages are spoken in New York.  All five boroughs were incorporated into a single city in 1898, and a census estimated the population in 2015 was 8,550,000, distributed over the land area of just 305 square miles, thus making New York the most densely populated city in the United States.  In 1920 John J. Fitz Gerald, a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph, called New York the “Big Apple”.  The name caught on and is still popular today.  Enjoy and Share.

P.S. As any big city, New York offers many photo opportunities.  When I visit Manhattan, I like to go for a walk in Central Park, which was developed in 1857.  San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, which was modeled after Central Park in New York City, is actually 20% larger with a population in San Francisco of only 837,442 (as of 2013).

Many famous photographers have photographed New York City throughout the years.  I hope you’ll enjoy my humble contribution of four images of this great city.

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Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />                                                               Signature