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!)
