Sunday, October 19, 2014

The wilderness next door

Back in the 1970's Thomas McGuane was giving an interview and was asked why he lived where he lived, in Montana and (then) Key West. One of his reasons was proximity to wilderness and big predators-- "megafauna" to use today's popular term. He cited grizzlies in Montana and a less obvious choice-- great sharks in the Gulf Stream.

I have always remembered this. You may live in a big city or on the deeply tame coast of Massachusetts, but if you are on the edge of the sea you are still in proximity to the ever- wild.

My musing prompted by this photo of herself my sister Karen Graham, who lives on that coast, just sent.
When I mentioned I occasionally envied her coastal access, she told me that a couple of weeks before, a great white shark had bitten a kayak in half near there, though the kayaker escaped unharmed. "We just stay in a group now, and keep our eyes open!"  THAT is a good attitude.

Update: Lucas Machias checks the news-- OK, not bitten in half (my not K's interpretation), just bitten hard enough to launch the kayaker out of the canoe. Scary enough!)

5 comments:

Lucas Machias said...

https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=great%20white%20shark%20had%20bitten%20a%20kayak%20in%20half%20near%20there%20Massachusetts

In the interest of accuracy, "bitten in half" is misleading if it is the same case as this and it seems to be. Young GWS's frequently test bite for ediblity in the their learning process.

Steve Bodio said...

Right area, and yes, seals, so yes. She said it was a "testing bite" I think the rest is just word of mouth exaggeration. I did say she wasn't worried (;-))

That is where I used to live in the 70's-- one of the places anyway.

Phil Yearout said...

Willard Harvey, a somewhat well known (locally at least) businessman and entrepreneur, was once asked why he lived in Wichita Kansas. "Well," he said, "I've been to Los Angeles and I've been to New York City, and Wichita is the farthest I could get from both of them."

Steve Bodio said...

I like that.

And... Libby and I are from Berkeley and Boston, and live in Magdalena.

Phil Yearout said...

That's Garvey, not Harvey. Fat fingers.