Port Hopes is one of our favorite towns to visit. On this visit it was flooded with Chinese tourists who, unlike us, had come to see the annual salmon run. We were just there to chill. It was only a few years ago that I learned that there were Chinook Salmon in Lake Ontario. Some fish-wise folks may want to jot me a note and correct me by pointing out the Chinook are Pacific Salmon. And that is true. However I am not wrong. Lake Ontario has Chinook Salmon.
Ellen and I were oblivious to the fact that at this time of year, they migrate up the Ganaraska River which cuts a steep path through the town of Port Hope. Our ignorance of this fact was brought to an abrupt stop when we pulled up to our cute, historic hotel and exited our car.
Oh! The Stench!
If you look closely you can see hundreds of salmon waiting behind the leaping fish.
The rotting corpses of those many great fish who perished trying to navigate up the unforgiving waters of the Ganaraska, and the thousands of seagulls and vultures, who literally covered the roofs, like so many sports fans in a stadium, produced a stench that was as close to revolting as one could stand without actually losing one's lunch. Especially if one had just finished eating the "salmon special" for lunch.
More affronting than the stench was the brutality of nature on display. Thousands of salmon spending all of their life's energy trying to swim against the crashing waters cascading into the lake just so they could spawn. For many, if not most, it was a losing battle... every molecule of strength sapped and depleted beyond recovery, sometimes making it hundreds of yards up stream, before becoming too weak to fight or breath any longer. The water then flushing them back down stream to die and rot, providing a feast for the opportunistic gulls and other scavengers. It is a heartbreaking reminder that nature weeds out the week, allowing only the strongest and fittest to survive. The weak, stupid and the unlucky perish.
It used to be this way with humans too. The smartest and fittest survived. Humans were not more physically fit than the predators who saw us merely as yummy, soft and chewy snacks - We survived because we were smarter. Alas, we evolved to be so smart that, as a species, we figured out how to overcome much of the obstacles that might have killed off the weak and stupid, like disease, sticking our heads in tight spaces, taunting large predators, trying to copulate with the large predator's wife, taping feathers to our arms and jumping off a cliff, and leaping into deep vats of excrement. Now Donald Trump is president.
Anyway, back in Port Hope, I spent a sunny evening busking (not basking) in front of Millies, a cafe on the main drag of Port hope, with my resonator guitar. A gaggle of teenage Chinese women gathered around, videoing me, dancing and laughing and having a great time. I made 7 dollars. Canadian.
As always and through it all the Blues gives us joy and solace.
Peace be with you