I have a friend whose birthday is exactly a month before mine! That month between our birthdays is one of great personal amusement because I get to make all kind of "old man" jokes. He just turned 47 and he is definitely an old man. For his birthday, I had arranged for a nice afternoon, paddling outriggers together, followed by a night of revelry. I even promised him to take up a challenge from a mud-wrestler just for his entertainment. In the end, he bowed out; Something about already been scheduled for marital relations. I called another friend whose birthday is shortly thereafter and he could not come out and play. He was pulling a 48-hour shift; Something about paying for new furniture and trying to schedule marital relations. As my birthday approached, I started thinking about what would make this birthday special.

I decided that a weekend camping with my  mini-stud, 16-year old son is always special. I had been planning this particular mini-adventure for a while, with the ultimate goal of getting down to Bahia De Los Angeles. I knew that a weekend trip to Catalina would be a great tune-up for such a trip. If I could only get my son's attention and interest. That turned out to be an easy task. He is a natural waterman and readily agreed to the prospect of spending a couple of days  kayaking, spearfishing and lobster hunting. Of course, having a new speargun also helped, even if he was to going to have to put with his Dad teaching him how to use it. How could he decline when I asked for his company as my birthday present?

I picked him up at his waterpolo game and after some frantic rush through Friday afternoon traffic, we made it to our boat with three minutes to spare. That would set the tone for the weekend because it was such a contrast to the laid-back atmosphere of our Two Harbors campsite. Our major worries for the weekend were really simple: Get one or two bundles of firewood? (Always get two. You can use whatever is left, for a nice fire in the morning!)  Would all our gear fit into the kayaks if we had camped at Parsons Landing and had to bring it all? (It did! We ferried all our stuff between the campsite and the pier and learned what not to bring next time!)  Would we actually catch any lobsters? (We didn't but not for lack of trying! We free-dived at night in water that was too murky to see anything; Not even the hoopers got any lobsters!)  Should we spear that octopuss? (We didn't but we did get three decent-size reef-fish that made an excellent dinner back at home!)

What is really starting to make these trips fun is that now I can joke with my son while dispensing some fatherly advice: Take care of your gear! (I'm not your mommy!)   That type of woman makes a great girlfriend and wife! (Referring to an attractive European lady, camping next to us, who took care of her little kids with the same ease and expertise as her scuba tank!)  Always meet your girlfriend's mom! (Pay attention to her physical attributes! You are looking at a preview of what your girlfriend will look like in the future!)

Who says you don't get wiser with age?

Labels: trip