If there was one slight benefit to coming down with the Covid virus as I did once again the other Sunday, it is that I had many days to catch up on my reading. And there were other pursuits suited to lying on the living room couch in recovery.
Ah, yes, it’s called television.
Given my pounding headache and rather painful body pain, I had many opportunities to catch up on some old TV reruns between books. Who needs Netflix? I needed some more simplistic pleasures. My brain could handle only so much. I had to dumb down.
What I viewed on my big-screen TV would never be construed as highly educational. Some would rightly say what I witnessed was just plain stupid. Frankly, it’s hard to argue against that point.
What did I see? Well, it was mainly an amalgamation of lame shows of my youth, including “Gilligan’s Island,” “Adam-12,” “The Partridge Family,” “The Honeymooners” (still beyond funny to me), “The Monkeys,” “Leave It to Beaver,” “Hazel” (a most fabulous housekeeper), and “Father Knows Best.”
Did father really know best? Looking back at a few episodes, I have my doubts. Sorry, Robert Young. Father would have much to learn if he were here today raising the kids. It’s a different world, but you did your best back in the 1950s.
I had a nice chuckle watching an episode of “Gilligan’s Island” in which Gilligan, in his inevitable white bucket hat, hauled in a lobster trap from the overly warm, tropical lagoon (a stage studio out in Los Angeles). The crew had been stranded after an ill-fated three-hour tour that went horribly wrong upon a boat named the Minnow somewhere off Hawaii.
The Minnow? Really? Who gives such a name to such a boat? In this case, it was a rather stout-looking cabin cruiser of its day. Unfortunately, the ship ultimately foundered and was beached on that uncharted desert isle as the opening credits rolled on. But this was Hollywood, not Montauk. The Minnow would be lost.
I’m not sure if Gilligan possessed a recreational permit to catch his lobster, but the specimens he hauled from the bamboo trap out of the artificial lagoon were clearly from the cold waters of the North Atlantic. They were barely alive. The Screen Actors Guild may want to investigate. The lobsters were most certainly cooked.
That said, I assume Gilligan and his band of wayward castaways still enjoyed a fine dinner that evening.
Watching these programs over the past week probably lowered my I.Q., which is not very high to begin with. Still, viewing such shows reminded me of much simpler days and times. It made me feel better. It made me laugh. I needed that.
All I now required was a frozen Swanson TV dinner baked hot out of the oven. Fried chicken was my favorite. The Salisbury steak was a close second. Jell-O for dessert? Yep, sign me up. I’m old school. I’ll take it.
While my fishing rods and reels remain silent until I fully recuperate, the week of Covid brought back some fond memories. Gilligan had it pretty good back then. Hope the lobsters are still coming to his trap on that uncharted desert isle.
Turning to the local fishing scene, as long as the hurricanes stay far offshore this month, the fishing for a variety of species, from tuna to fluke, should remain robust. But the gusty winds of nearby fall can now be felt. Anglers need to pay heed and carefully time their trips upon the water.
“There are still a lot of keeper porgies being taken around in the bays and beaches,” Sebastian Gorgone at Mrs. Sam’s Bait and Tackle in East Hampton said. “Some fluke are also being taken in the channels, and striped bass are biting best at night.”
As for shellfish, I’ve had many inquiries of late from friends and readers asking me the status of bay scallops. As most know, the past five years have witnessed a massive die-off of the iconic bivalve, also known as Peconic Gold, before the season opens in early November. For now, the jury is still out.
Regarding scallops’ success, “There was an excellent spawn this spring,” said Harrison Tobi, a scallop shellfish ecologist at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, which monitors 20 dive sites within the Peconic Estuary system. “Yes, there are signs again of a die-off. But the monthly survey sites had low numbers to begin with. The real data will come in October on what the fishery looks like this season.”
“Still, it was great to see that we had two great spawns already this year,” he added. “Hopefully, they will survive for next year.”
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