MEEZIE HERMANSEN was born and raised in Alaska. A lifelong Cook Inlet East Side Setnetter, she has worked the family site near Humpy Point every summer since learning to walk.
Meezie currently works as a veterinarian in Soldotna but returns to beach camp every fish season. She continues to work in an industry her family has been proud to be part of since the Territorial Days of Alaska.
If you are interested in purchasing Brain Sand, a collection of poems and writings about commercial fishing and life in Alaska, you can contact Meezie at meezie.h@gmail.com.
Meezie currently works as a veterinarian in Soldotna but returns to beach camp every fish season. She continues to work in an industry her family has been proud to be part of since the Territorial Days of Alaska.
If you are interested in purchasing Brain Sand, a collection of poems and writings about commercial fishing and life in Alaska, you can contact Meezie at meezie.h@gmail.com.
AUDIO
WRITINGS
The Storm’s Embrace
The rain and spray pelt my face
Stinging like little shards of glass
We run within the storm’s embrace
Crest a wave, then in the crevasse
I tip my hat brim, squint and mutter
Poised in the bow I’m searching for gear
Frequently I flinch and shudder
As a curler breaks against my ear
I shake my head as the water flows
Past my collar and down my chest
Cursing the wind that savagely blows
A blustery, brutally, raging sou’west
We battle against what nature throws
Between the grimaces you’ll catch me smiling
Whether she’s calm or whether she blows
I find the sea is always beguiling
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Cook Inlet Chiropractic
My friend suggested the other day
A chiropractor down the way
He’d adjust me for a fee
“You’ll feel better, just you see”
I was stove up, that I admit
My back was hunched a smidgey bit
But it seemed a silly idea to pay
For we had an opener the following day
And the wind was blowing hard enough
To make the water fairly rough
Pound to the gear through the briny slop
Grab hold of the corkline -n- pop pop pop
Pop is the moan of hangings giving way
And pop is the groan of my vertebrae
Why pay a chiropractor adjust me for a fee
When Cook Inlet will gladly adjust my spine for free
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A Father's Advice
Five years. It seems like forever, and yet, only a moment. I look out over the water and hear your voice. “It’s a beautiful day on the pond, I wonder what the poor people are doing?” Always said with a bit of whimsy, yet there was never any doubt as to the truth of the statement. The poor people. Those who did not have the luxury to spend the day on the water (or, as I later realized, doing whatever was their passion). No matter how tired or sore our bodies were and regardless of the harvest, we were wealthy, for there was no place else we would rather be.
I hear other phrases too. “Never stand in the bight of the line.” Words you repeated a thousand times, the rural commercial fisherman’s equivalent to “always look both ways before crossing the road.” You were telling me not to stand within the V of a line under tension because if the line snapped, that could be an area of danger, but more than that, you were teaching me to be aware of my surroundings; to avoid placing myself unnecessarily in harm’s way.
“Wait for the last big wave and ride it in.” Smart people learn that, even in the middle of a storm, the wind and waves can be used to their advantage. Get rattled, get in a hurry, and mistakes occur, but time the landing correctly and the last big wave will push the skiff safely up the beach. You taught me that patience is the key to a rough day.
Of course, another good lesson is that you can’t do it perfect every time. Even for an expert, things can go wrong. The timing gets messed up and the rollers break over the stern pounding your backside. I can still see your oops grin, the salt water dripping down your face. “Any landing you can walk away from...” In other words, don’t beat yourself up, just try to do a little better next time.
It’s funny. I thought you were teaching me about fishing, but in reality you were teaching me about life. I hope I learned the lessons well and that I would have made you proud. I miss you Dad.
Love,
Meezie