4 am the alarm clock sounds. Roll over and hit snooze for the 5th time. When awaking the next time, you realize this time you can’t hit snooze again. You actually have to get up and get moving. Stumbling into the kitchen in the dark trying to get the coffee brewing, you go back to the bedroom and rummage through clothes trying to find a pair of older jeans and a shirt that isn’t worth very much. After finally getting dressed you make your way to the bathroom, where you take your time deciding whether or not you actually want to brush your hair or brush your teeth. I mean does anyone actually care what they look like out to haul? At 5:00 you stumble back into the kitchen and pour yourself a cup of coffee. You drink it while reading the morning paper. Ahhh finally the coffee kicks in and you are awake. You choke down a boring plain old donut, and then pack your lunch. A can of sardines, a package of crackers, and a devil dog. That should do it. You pour yourself a big thermos of coffee and throw a can of soda pop into the lunch box. At 5:45, you walk out your door with your thermos in one hand and your lunchbox in the other.

You step into the early morning air and it chills you to the bone. You’re never prepared for how cold it is first thing in the morning, but you know as the day goes on, the temperature will rise. You throw your stuff in the back and then crawl into the front of the car. As you drive through town you see all the other fisherman doing the same daily routines. They all wave and are oh so friendly. They know that you too are on your way to the deep blue sea for another day of lobster fishing. At 6 am you meet the owner of the boat at the wharf. You talk on your way down to the skiff. You talk about last night’s game and then about what you heard on the news this morning. You crawl into the skiff that’s damp with dew, and sit in the front. The fisherman sits in the middle and grabs his wooden oars. He takes his time rowing out to his big ol’ fishing vessel. You just sit and admire how beautiful the ocean looks or see how many other fisherman have already left this morning or how many are on their way out.  You reach the boat and then hop in. You put your stuff up in the cabin and then go back and tie the skiff to the mooring. You untie the boat from the mooring and then head back down to the cabin. While in here you watch the captain flip a bunch of switches and get the boat running. You just love the smell of diesel in the morning. You walk over and turn the radio on to the classic rock channel. It really helps get everybody through the day. You sit on the stern as the boat takes of slowly. Once you get out by the breakwater, the captain puts it in full throttle. You waste no time getting out to the islands to fish.

When about half way there, you put on your oil pants and oil jacket. You get ready and head on over to the bait tank. You bait up the few pockets you had leftover. It’s easier to put them into the traps instead of waste time filling the one already in the trap. You reach the first trap and run over to the captain eager to help pull it up. Up, up, up it comes till finally it breaks the surface of the water. You reach down and pull it up. Inside are 4 of the prettiest lobsters you’ve seen. All keepers except for one, which you gladly throw back over for another days catch. You band them all and throw them into the lobster tank. You tie the baited pocket onto the trap and then your captain circles back around to where you had just drifted from and you push the trap back over. You think to yourself that today is going to be a good day. The suns coming up and already you have three lobsters. You go on and within 15 minutes you’re through the first string of traps. Your captain says that today you’re going to work on the singles and then go and haul a few pairs. You think to yourself that it’s going to be one long day and then “Spirit in the Sky” comes on the radio and you get jamming out and forget all about the long hours of hard work that are ahead of you.

Finally you make it through the 10th string and your captain says he thinks it’s a good time to have a lunch break. You whip out the sardines and crack them open. Man don’t they taste good. You know you would think that after working with bait all morning, you would be turned off from eating them.  You pull out your thermos of coffee and take a big swig, it keeps you going along with the rock and roll. After enjoying your lunch you sit back and take a bite of your devil dog. You start thinking that someday maybe you will be the captain of your own boat. For now you are just the stern man, but within the next few years you promise yourself that you will have your own boat. Someone will be working for you. You will be your own boss. Finally your boss finishes his soup and says it’s time to get on to the next string.

You really get into the grove of things when “Turn the Page” come on to the radio. You continue jamming out in the scorching hot sun and baiting those pockets. Its 2 pm, the clouds finally start to give you a little shade. You’re secretly hoping in the back of your mind that your boss says it’s time to go home.  Finally at 3:30 he says “We’re calling it a day”. You start cleaning up the boat while your boss starts the journey home. You sit on the washboard and take in the nice ocean breeze. You pull into the wharf and start loading the lobsters in the crates. At the end of a long day on the boat, you hop into your truck and drive home. You wander on in and head to the shower. Then you sit in the comfy chair and relax after a long day. You think back and realize that today was a good day. It was just another day in paradise.