The fish cleaning shack at Tikchik Narrows Lodge was a great place. Late afternoons would see the planes return to the lodge, and salmon that had been retained were loaded into wheel barrows to be processed by us fish guides in the shack.
It was always cool in there, and the expected fish smell permeated the air. Not a “fishy” smell, but the smell of fish. Some of you will understand what I mean. There were always beers, Raniers if I recall.
A small boom box sat on a dingy shelf, and someone had Jimmy’s “Songs You Know by Heart” playing in it nonstop. Before this I was aware of Jimmy Buffett, but not too familiar with his music. Songs like “Son of a Son of a Sailor” really resonated with me. And it turns out that I really am the son of a son of a sailor.
I dove deeper into his catalog, and Jimmy’s music and lifestyle got me thinking I should live a pirate’s existence…traveling south and seaward ‘til my money ran out, set up shop in some unknown port. Figure it out from there. I really think that if I had heard “The Weather is Here…” a year or two earlier in my life I would have given ‘a new life in the palm trees’ a shot.
This picture is what hooked me. The guy could really cast!
But in reality, I never had what it would take to pull any of that off. I tried to be a big-time traveler and saltwater fly-fishing guy, but it turns out that is a bad persona to take on for someone living in Minnesota that doesn’t have any money.
My Abel reels I ordered in “Caribbean Camo”, trying to live the Buffett life
I’ll never be a twelve-volt man, nor will I be a cowboy in the jungle, and I don’t expect I will know what it’s like to see the lights of St Thomas 20 miles west. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think about those things, as I now think of myself more like the guy from “Altered Boy” who, like Walter Mitty, lives out an imagined existence of excitement and danger while sipping on Singapore Slings in some tiki bar. And my occupational hazard is truly the fact that my occupation is just not around. click the link for the most underrated Buffett Song Altered Boy
All rods I built for saltwater were under the “Margaritaville Rod company” brand
We named our first daughter “Savannah” – in homage to Jimmy and his daughter Savannah Jane. It took some trickery on my part to make it happen. When it was time for daughter number two to be named, I made a plea for “Delaney” but that was thoroughly shot down. Still think it would have been a good fit.
I never wanted to be able to play guitar any better than to strum and sing Jimmy’s songs. Most of his songs are easy enough, probably why I will never get beyond the skill level of “advanced beginner”. Oh well, come to a campfire at my place, I can pull off a reasonable version of Jolly Mon along with most of the rest of his catalog.
Most people aren’t aware of Jimmy’s music beyond his songs about margaritas and cheeseburgers. Hard to make short list of “must listen” songs, but “He Went to Paris”, “Twelve Volt Man”, “Manana”, “Distantly in Love”, and “That’s What Living is to Me” will give a listener a good idea of what he is all about. His stories of travel and escapism inspired millions.
What John Denver was to the Rockies, what Gordon Lightfoot was to Canada, what Jerry Jeff Walker was to Texas, Jimmy was all this and more to those mysterious calling harbors, to the palm trees and the south seas, and to all of us who dreamt of living that life.
Be good and you will be lonesome
Be lonesome and you will be free
Live a lie, and you’ll live to regret it
That’s what living is to me
That’s what living is to me.