For years my family has headed up to Maine for family reunions. These are always thoroughly
enjoyable trips to a part of the country that has sternly resisted the “Gap-i-fication” that has homogenized so much of
the modern world.
And one of the things I most look forward to when I make the trip is the family lobster bake. These are amazing, one
of life’s true pleasures. We dig a hole in the sand, build a raging fire and wait until there is a bed of flaming
embers. We place rocks over the embers to heat them up, and we cover the rocks with seaweed. Then we place freshly
caught lobsters on the seaweed, blanket them with more seaweed and cover the whole mess with a big tarp. Then we wait
until the monster-clawed crustaceans get bright red and ready to eat. Man, just thinking about dipping a sweet, white
chunk of lobster meat in melted butter makes me hungry. Yummy.
So with my personal recollection and passion for lobsters as a set up,
here is an interview in the Atlantic Magazine
with Trevor Corson, the author of The Secret Life of Lobsters. Corson talks about the life of lobsters themselves
and of lobster fishermen. Give it a read and then head over to this site dedicated to The
Maine Lobster Festival, happening this August. I went a few years
ago and had one kick ass time.
It’s just a lobster kind of day.