Parenting, occupation, and everyday activities demand energy.
It is easy to get wrapped up in a whirlwind and forget that human beings are not meant to sustain long periods of energy output without some way of recharging.
The story of two woodcutters comes to mind.
One woodcutter worked all day without sharpening his saw. At the end of the day, he was exhausted and he had not much wood cut. He had spent most of his time struggling with a dull saw blade. The wise woodcutter, who stopped to sharpen his saw periodically, finished the day with much more wood cut and he was much less tired.
So it goes with parenting and commercial fishing.
Parents put out energy. So do people who are commercial fishermen and anyone else with a job.
Wise workers take breaks.
In commercial fishing, it is not unusual to put in 20 hour days. Add a rough ocean to this and long periods of standing, manual labor, and you have a case for depleted energy levels combined with sleep deprivation.
Bad things happen if energy levels are not restored.
Parenting requires similar stamina. Long hours, a need to be constantly available to off-spring, and sometimes sleep deprivation are all factors.
On the last commercial fishing trip the fisherman made off of the West Coast, he fished on his own, without a crewman. When the season closed yesterday at noon (for a fish count), he headed into port. On the phone, he sounded tired and, often, irrational.
At home, the fisherman’s wife had been helping a son prepare for school testing and emotionally supporting a daughter preparing for high school graduation.
A head cold made her feel dizzy and was very noticeable when she was walking the dog. Something in her jaw had pulled the other day, and she could only open her mouth part way.
Night time sleep had been reduced to whatever hours a runny nose and a tight jaw had allowed.
So neither the commercial fisherman nor his wife were speaking easily on the phone to the other business partner/ marital partner/ co-parent.
This made for very long phone conversations as planning became muddled.
The fisherman’s wife wanted to drive to meet her husband, but felt too dizzy to do so.
In the meantime, the husband had made arrangements for a potential deckhand to meet him on the boat, a 2 1/2 hour drive away from their home.
The kids patiently watched TV and played games last evening waiting for their parents to get things sorted.
A day later, the deck hand appeared to be a good fit and suddenly the parents realized that there would be no family time unless transportation matters were immediately handled.
2 1/2 hours is a long drive when it becomes a 5 hour round trip drive back to home. In one day. With a pre-teen son along for the ride. Buses do not run on Sundays.
Then there was the dizziness issue…sleep deprivation…the fisherman’s wife remembered falling asleep and driving off the road when her son was an infant. She remembered her husband hitting a utility pole and totaling a Subaru after long fishing trips and an eight hour plus drive up the coast. The accident had occurred less than an hour drive away from home.
Airbags saved the lives of her husband and his crew.
Scrambling, casting about for ideas of what to do, the parents were governed by the thought that prioritizing family time and parenting is IMPORTANT!
Sharpening the saw is important!
Kids benefit from seeing their parents regroup.
That is what life is all about, the balance.
So this is how the story ends:
The fishing boat captain/Dad caught a ride home. The father of the newly hired deckhand was providing the transportation.
The new deckhand would be put up in a hotel for the night, in the hometown of the fishing family.
The pre-teen son would see his daddy.
The fish wife/Mom would get a nap, or at the very least, more rest.
The nearly graduated daughter would get a hug from her father that evening after returning from an out-of-town day with friends.
The four cats and two dogs would all get petted by everyone in the family.
A refrigerator would be restocked with favorite food.
Music would be played.
A Go-Kart would be repaired with and for the pre-teen son.
A commercial salmon troller, named the Saint Jude, would wait patiently in the marina for her family to return.
And the writer of this story would remember a song played long ago on the boat back when the now adult daughter was a toddler, a song shared by another deckhand. It would, for many years, become the theme song for the fishing family. It still is…
How do you recharge?
Integration 
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