Dolphin Address 2 2004
July 14, 2004
Verena does not like to do the same things twice. It took me quite a while last winter to find my way through Berlin, because she chose a different route each time. But you can't have it always your other way.
Last week, when we arrived at Pollenawatch, some swimmers where about to leave the water. Because I did not like Dusty to leave, I encouraged Verena, who had jumped into her wetsuit very quickly, to get asap into the water and save her for us. She worked her way down the slippery rocks and ran down the beach. I was so busy getting myself into my new wetsuit that I did not pay attention to the beach, but when I looked again, I quite rightly did not believe my eyes.
Verena walked out of the waves with a baby dolphin in her arms. Now she herself is a feast for the eyes, but she appeared like an Angel of the Waters with her dark golden hair, her warm chocolate eyes and her athletic, drawn against the ocean, figure.
I blinked my eyes and dropped into reality: Verena was carrying a salmon ashore, very much the same size as the one Dusty brought me last year. She laid down the fish in the sand and turned to join Dusty again.
The people that were leaving the water looked as stunned as the salmon. One of them, a Dane, so large that he looked as if calved off of one of his home islands, took the fish by the tail and made for the waves as he found it to belong to Dusty. Verena told him this was our evening meal and some more and he turned on his heel to put the fish back on the sand.
Someone said: 'If you want to eat it, you have to kill it.' Verena took a stone and patted the salmon on the head with it. The animal was stunned by the dolphin, but still very much alive. 'Jan, do something!'
I took the stone and hit the fish several times as hard as I could. Then I carried the body over the slitherrocks, drawing a fat blood trail and covered it with the dry-sack.
Later we went to Bridie and cut the giant fish in chunks, leaving her half to deep-freeze. The other part we mostly ate ourselves. It was absolutely delicious, just a few touches too much. Think I pass the salmon for some time.
Jan Ploeg, Fanore meadow, July 14th 2004
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