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vegetables. He thanked me when May and I finished

setting the table. I decided to make civil conversation. "I still don't understand how you fish for

lobster," I said standing nearby and watching him grill

the fish. "You don't need a pole?"

He laughed.

"We don't fish for them exactly. We set traps at

the bottom of the ocean floor and attach buoys that

float above."

"How do the other fishermen know which trap

is theirs and which is yours?"

"Each lobster fisherman has his own colors on

his buoys. We're using the same colors my great

grandfather used. They sort of belong to our family,

like a coat of arms or something. Understand?" I nodded.

"After we bring up a trap, if there is a lobster in

it, we measure it with a gauge from its eye socket to

the end of its back. An average lobster runs anywhere

from two to five pounds. My father once brought up a

trap with a lobster in it that weighed over thirty." "Thirty!"

"Yeah, but someone else trapped one closer to

forty last year. Lobsters with eggs on their tails have

to be thrown back in immediately. We have to do all

we can to keep up the supply. It takes about seven and

a half years for a lobster to grow to decent size." "Seven and a half years?"

"Uh huh," he said smiling. "Now you know

why we grow and harvest cranberries, too."

"Is this what you want to do for the rest of your

life?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"You don't want to go to college?"