Come on, he thought and looked down into the dark water at the slant of the line. Eat it now and it will strengthen the hand. It is not the hand's fault and you have been many hours with the fish. But you can stay with him forever. Eat the bonito now.
He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly. It was not unpleasant.
According to my Google search, a bonito is a tuna-like schooling fish. According to Santiago, its taste is not unpleasant.
I had a not unpleasant day. As I was driving to work early in the morning, I watched a really golden sun climbing into the sky. I missed the sunrise, but only by a few minutes. When I got to the library a little after 7 a.m., I immediately went to the roof of the building. Don't ask me why.
It was a beautiful, clear morning. The view I got was of a city just waking up. There were very few cars on the streets, and Lake Superior was a flat sheet of blue to the horizon. Standing on the roof, I talked to myself. Said things like "you're a lucky man" and "you're surrounded by grace" and "don't get too near the edge of the roof, you idiot." That was blessing number one.
After that, I went back down to my office and realized that I had forgotten the breakfast and lunch I'd packed at home. So, I got back in my car, made a quick trip to McDonald's, drove back to the library, and got to work. I wrote a podcast script. Answered some emails. Made a few phone calls. Planned out some events.
In the afternoon, I got caught up on grading for my online summer course. That took me a little over an hour, and it was blessing number two.
I had an appointment this afternoon. As I was walking to that appointment, I ran into one of my best friends who moved away a couple years ago. I worked with her at an outpatient surgery center for almost fifteen years. We only had a chance to speak for a few minutes, but it felt so good to hug her. That was blessing number three.
And, finally, this evening, I hosted another outdoor concert at the library. Over a hundred people showed up. The band was great. There were people dancing up and down the steps. Everyone was just having fun, and, at the end, nobody wanted to leave. That was blessing number four.
Therefore, as Saint Marty said at the beginning this post, the day was not unpleasant.
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