Halibut Fishing -4

Raja Yoga.
First lesson Mantram (affirmations)
" I am a center, around me revolves my world.
I am a center of influence and power/
I am a center of thought and consciousness.
I am invincible and cannot be destroyed. 
I am invincible and cannot be injured."
                                      Written while on the road to Alaska on Highway 12, Montana.

It was my bad that I did not take note of the details of the book I had with me but  it was my traveling companion along with another entitled, "The Death of Gurdjief at the Foothills of Georgia," The three days drive that took us from Green Bay, Wisconsin was both tedious and challenging as Rob Sergei's car a Chevy Nova had a leaky fuel tank that can only take so much fuel at time an so we had to gauge ourselves keeping an eye for the next gas station along stretches of deserted highways through North Dakota and Wyoming. We made it to Cle Alum, Teanaway valley in the Kent, Washington State area some how. We pulled over and rested whenever we needed to and ate from the can food supply we had with us.As we were travelling on a shoestring budget we never slept at a hota; nor ate in a restaurant. I came to admire Rob Sergei the man who made it possible for me to travel to Alaska for his ability to rough it out. I often wondered what he must have thought of me, this crazy Malaysian who bought a one way ticket North not knowing what laid ahead or in store for him.
Perhaps it was the lessons I accepted from the Raja Yoga and my strong belief in it that saw me through till I was able to experience the fishing trip and later even was able to live in Sand Point for almost two years with my partner who happened to run the only restaurant on the Island, it was called, "The Windward Cafe." Ms. Judy and Ms. Brenda two young ladies from the lower 48 were the owners of the restaurant. During the fishing season the restaurant was filled with fishermen mostly from the south and just about everyone of the had their eyes on the ladies especially Ms.Judy who was still unattached.
On the 4th. of July almost all the fishing vessels came into harbor at Sand Point and so did the F.V. Iceland and her five crew members. We had just returned from delivering about 450 thousand pounds of Halibut at the canaries in Dutch Harbor, Ak. We has relatively good catch and so were ready to celebrate the July 4th. Like everyone else we head for the Windward Cafe for the best Pizza in town. Being one of the last to arrive we were seated close to the entrance all five of us quite drunk from the bottles of whiskey we polished at the dock on board the Iceland. The whole joint was filled with rough tough looking fishermen, captains and crew members sharing fish ta;es about their trips.
With my head 'two sheets to the wind', from the liquor I watched the waitress walked out of the kitchen with two large pizzas in her hands and as she walked away towards the tables I blurted out, "I am in love!" It was loud enough for just about everyone in the room to freeze and all eyes were reverted to our table. I felt the Skipper gripped my arm and said in his serious voice "Shut the f...k up!" But even before i knew wht was happening the waitress turned around with the two pizzas like a ballerina and when I saw her face i repeated myself even louder, "I am, in love!!" The rest was history and i ended living with one of the most beautiful ladies on the island, no more fishing but as an artist instead.