I Enjoy Fishing! Me gusta la pesca! Ever since I was a little girl I have loved to fish! I must have some sort of gene that dictates my love for fishing! I was raised in Los Angeles, in the "Big" city so to speak, but as far back as I can remember I have loved fishing, even if it was in the dirty ponds of the city parks in L.A. County. But I remember back to the days when my step dad would take me to Redondo Beach, California out on the pier; my lust, at ten or twelve years old to be the best fisherman on the pier... my dream at the time was to match the Mexican men on the pier who were catching Bonita (actually tuna), and to land the biggest one... unfortunately I found myself as a ten or twelve-year-old girl casting underhand, as they did on the pier, and getting my giant hook and bait caught on the wood pilings underneath the pier...
I would climb like a monkey underneath the pier, and through the pilings to find my hook, release it, then crawl ever-so-gracefully back up to the deck only to cast again... hooking into the pier pilings below... My step dad, Cy, told me many years later, when I was in my forties, that he admired the "Fisherman's Heart" that I had... even though I was a "Girl". I never really caught anything on that pier, although I was sure happy to stand around with the local Mexicans to admire the shark, or stingray, or halibut flopping about between the fishermen's feet... I wanted so desperately to be the one who brought the creature to the planks... The strange creatures were the talk of the pier, and the talk was mostly in Spanish. I adored my experiences there, even though my step dad would get irritated with me. He was at least willing to take me there and let me try. I was a vibrant kid, nothing could hold me back from the enthusiasm of fishing! Not even my step dad who thought it was all for nought, and who didn't even like fish. I must admire him however, to take his step-daughter fishing... to rent a saltwater rod and reel... to allow her the freedom to explore the pier pilings... At fifty-one, I am admiring my step-father anew. He is gone now, but I appreciate so much his patience as he allowed me to explore...
So here I am living in a fishing village in Mexico... I am here for six months tending a gringo's home... it's tuna season... and what's a girl to do? So I go tuna fishing! Yes, me and a friend catch tuna... big ones, fat ones... heavy ones... but it's not that: I love fishing because I am a primitive soul. I have touched my primitive self. I was in touch with my primitive self from way back... way back when I was a little girl... I have learned that fishing is not just some sport, something to do, nor some flaky deed that grandpa talked about: fishing is a primitive, natural instinct for those of us who have tapped in to our inner-survivor selves. I also have a deep desire to hunt. What is that? I am a girl for goodness sake! But it's just in me to want to know how to hunt and fish, camp, etc. No one taught me, no one turned me on to it all... It was in me. So I have come to the conclusion that some of us are just a little more primitive than others, or that some of us just grasp that part of ourselves more willingly than others... I really don't know. I don't even know if there has been a study done on these things... All I know is that this is how I feel; this is how I am. I love fishing. I love hunting. I love camping. What is that??
I am here in Yelapa... a wonderful fishing village in Mexico. I adore the people, the culture, the lifestyle, yet, unfortunately I can never truly be a part. It would take years and years for them to fully accept me, and I don't have that kind of time. All I can do is treat them with dignity and respect, and remain generous and open. They don't know my heart, but when I think about it, that's okay too... they don't need to know my heart. All I need to do is be myself... be kind, loving, generous, and truthful... to them, as well as myself. I shant require the whole world to love me... I should only require that I be good to all people regardless of circumstance... If it serves any purpose at all, it is for me. For if I am friendly and another is not, it is not my concern; I am the one who will be the beneficiary of mental, emotional, and spiritual freedom.
The same is to be said of "Forgiveness". We don't forgive because of someone else... we forgive to free ourselves of the bondage of resentment.
Leslie L. Ortiz
