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“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”

E. B. White

“Tequila, scorpion honey… Tequila, liquid geometry of passion… Tequila, savage water of sorcery… What confusion and mischief your sly, rebellious drops do generate!”

Tom Robbins

“Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.”

Imogen Cunningham

Don Rueben is 89 years old, and he hates that people know it.  He’s been a fisherman all his life, has 13 children, and near as I can tell, has single-handedly populated half the town of La Ventana. At least once a week, I catch him shuffling toward the beach in the early hours with nets and lines in hand. Every time he passes by my door, this is how our conversation goes: “Me voy a pescar”, he tells me — taking a moment to pause and smile. “Pues, traeme un pez!”, I say enthusiastically with encouragement. “Buenooo!” he says, then waves, and continues on his way. I’ve never actually seen Don Rueben get in his boat, or head out to sea. Nor has he ever brought me any fish.  But I love our morning encounters anyway. I like the way he marches from his house, past my casita, across the sand, to a place on the beach where his panga awaits. I admire the way he moves with purpose. Quixotic as it may be. 

Don Rueben is 89 years old, and he hates that people know it.  He’s been a fisherman all his life, has 13 children, and near as I can tell, has single-handedly populated half the town of La Ventana. At least once a week, I catch him shuffling toward the beach in the early hours with nets and lines in hand. Every time he passes by my door, this is how our conversation goes: 

“Me voy a pescar”, he tells me — taking a moment to pause and smile. 
“Pues, traeme un pez!”, I say enthusiastically with encouragement. 
“Buenooo!” he says, then waves, and continues on his way. 

I’ve never actually seen Don Rueben get in his boat, or head out to sea. Nor has he ever brought me any fish.  But I love our morning encounters anyway. I like the way he marches from his house, past my casita, across the sand, to a place on the beach where his panga awaits. I admire the way he moves with purpose. Quixotic as it may be. 

Tags la ventana fishermen pescadores pez fish don rueben purpose mexico fishing getting older

What a damn pleasure it’s been to eat, drink, and work in the company of Tiffany Patterson, Chris Dreyer and Mark Anderson over the past two weeks. The German superlative ‘uber’ — attached to the word ‘grateful’ — is an understatement. When it comes to firsts, this one takes the cake. “For Connor” is on display at the Museum of Art and Culture in Spokane until January 2012. 

Tags tiffany patterson poet poem poetry coffee shop chris dreyer mark anderson northwest museum art culture exhibit