Lord, Make Me a Trout!
Posted: Monday, February 01, 2010
by Ken McCreless
RMS1437
Greetings Fellow Travelers ...
Question: Are you a jellyfish or a trout?
Picture if you will the cabbage head jellyfish. It's a creature that wants to go places. This gelatinous and see-through animal thrashes itself in motions that give the appearance of determination and direction.
However, if you look in areas where trash collects in the water, like at the fantail of the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi, you'll see thousands of them. Why?
It's simple. Their motions are not to go anywhere, but to draw in water that might hold some dinner. The cabbage head is like all jellyfish. They don't care where they go as long as there is something to eat!
As impressive looking as they are, no one need fear them. There is no poison in them at all. I have been involved in many "Jelly Wars" where the ammunition used was, you guessed it, the cabbage head.
You haven't lived until you've smacked someone with a cabbage head! Just imagine a snowball with slime- and not so cold.
The Man-of-War jellyfish, on the other hand, has a different strategy. He has long tendrils loaded with tiny poison darts that pierce your skin. Each years hundreds or even thousands are treated on Padre Island for such injuries.
However, as menacing as he is, he just floats along. You'll see them by the dozens lying on the beach, dead. Their little "stingers" are as vicious as ever, though.
Throw one of those guys and you'll do as much damage to yourself as you will to your opponent!
Both species have something in common.
The current. They just ride it.
Waves and tide factor in as to their destinations. No jellyfish has ever had to decide on a course of action.
Now, let's look at the trout. The Speckled Trout, to be specific.
He is what is known as a game fish. You hook one of these bad boys, even a small one, and you're in for a fight. They are harder to catch than most fish, and require the catcher to be as smart or smarter than they are.
But they are a beautiful fish. You can't use junk bait to get them like you can other species. These guys go only for the best stuff, either live bait, fresh dead bait, (sushi!), or artificial baits that expertly mimic the live stuff.
Currents mean little to the trout. They know where the best food is and are not scared to get to it. If the water is dirty for whatever reason you likely will not find the speckled trout there.
They do have their standards.
People are much the same way. Some just concentrate on food, or drink, or having a good time with no concern on where they are going. One fine day they look up and are in a world of hurt.
Or someone is using them as a bomb!
Others are blessed with a direction, a cause, a purpose that they are not afraid to pursue. These are the men and women who are movers and shakers- world changers.
Think of the folks over the years who have stood up for something and made a difference. Martin Luther King Jr, for example. He was not concerned with riding the current but going against it.
How many lives were saved during 9-11 that would have perished had the New York Police and Fire Departments acted as jellyfish and not as trout?
How much misery is poured out on humanity because jellyfish make motions as if they're going somewhere but are only looking for instant gratification?
So, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you again.
Are you a jellyfish or a trout?
Question: Are you a jellyfish or a trout?
Picture if you will the cabbage head jellyfish. It's a creature that wants to go places. This gelatinous and see-through animal thrashes itself in motions that give the appearance of determination and direction.
However, if you look in areas where trash collects in the water, like at the fantail of the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi, you'll see thousands of them. Why?
As impressive looking as they are, no one need fear them. There is no poison in them at all. I have been involved in many "Jelly Wars" where the ammunition used was, you guessed it, the cabbage head.
You haven't lived until you've smacked someone with a cabbage head! Just imagine a snowball with slime- and not so cold.
The Man-of-War jellyfish, on the other hand, has a different strategy. He has long tendrils loaded with tiny poison darts that pierce your skin. Each years hundreds or even thousands are treated on Padre Island for such injuries.
However, as menacing as he is, he just floats along. You'll see them by the dozens lying on the beach, dead. Their little "stingers" are as vicious as ever, though.
Throw one of those guys and you'll do as much damage to yourself as you will to your opponent!
Both species have something in common.
The current. They just ride it.
Waves and tide factor in as to their destinations. No jellyfish has ever had to decide on a course of action.
Now, let's look at the trout. The Speckled Trout, to be specific.
He is what is known as a game fish. You hook one of these bad boys, even a small one, and you're in for a fight. They are harder to catch than most fish, and require the catcher to be as smart or smarter than they are.
But they are a beautiful fish. You can't use junk bait to get them like you can other species. These guys go only for the best stuff, either live bait, fresh dead bait, (sushi!), or artificial baits that expertly mimic the live stuff.
Currents mean little to the trout. They know where the best food is and are not scared to get to it. If the water is dirty for whatever reason you likely will not find the speckled trout there.
They do have their standards.
People are much the same way. Some just concentrate on food, or drink, or having a good time with no concern on where they are going. One fine day they look up and are in a world of hurt.
Or someone is using them as a bomb!
Others are blessed with a direction, a cause, a purpose that they are not afraid to pursue. These are the men and women who are movers and shakers- world changers.
Think of the folks over the years who have stood up for something and made a difference. Martin Luther King Jr, for example. He was not concerned with riding the current but going against it.
How many lives were saved during 9-11 that would have perished had the New York Police and Fire Departments acted as jellyfish and not as trout?
How much misery is poured out on humanity because jellyfish make motions as if they're going somewhere but are only looking for instant gratification?
So, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you again.
Are you a jellyfish or a trout?
Ken McCreless is just a guy who loves to write, and was born to do so. He is a freelance writer with several projects ongoing, including books and magazines. A huge fan of both irony and history, Ken has dedicated his life and his writing to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)The noble trout is the sheep of the fish world. Lives its fast, flashy life for one thing, to feed me.Feed US!Thanks for stopping by.
Ken,What a novel approach and so well done. You are so right. Thank goodness for the trout! We definitely need more of them and less of the jellyfish.Thanks for a thought-provoking article.Thank you, Nancy.Our minds were not created to ride the current, were they?
Trout, definitely. I was stung by a jellyfish once, when I was younger. I was in Malta and the pain was . . . considerable. We need less jellyfish, absolutely. We actually need less of things which contribute nothing, or things which take as much as they can. Very well done, Ken.Yeah, I agree Michael. This story was a good allegory for those things, and I'm sure Ken's original intent was not lost on me. But if you've ever seen a jellyfish pulsing through the ocean, transparent purple, and long, pink streamers of tentacles, looking like some futuristic undersea space ship, they are extremely beautiful. And the trout is possibly the most beautiful fish, although I would vote for the rainbow trout, more than the brook trout.As for takers and leavers, I don't really see where either trout or jellyfish make any contribution, other than their God-given right to exist for their own sakes (and who are we to deny the fundamental right to survival?), but Daniel Quinn wrote a philosophical novel called Ishmael that explored how we have become a society of takers, in contradiction to our aboriginal ancestors, who were mostly leavers. That is, our unbridled quest for consumption has changed the ecological dynamics. It's like when a bird eats a fruit, it deposits something useful behind, a seed. But anything we deposit is usually either bundled up in a concrete sepulchre, non biodegradable bags, or is poisonous, like Chernobyl.
It is this modern industrial age ethic that we "must contribute something" that is cause for the decline of nature, re: The Amazon rain forest. If it doesn't produce something useful, something that we can make a buck off, we give ourselves the right to cut it down. Whoa is the tail of another beautiful, directional ichthyous creature, the blue fin tuna, too useful for its own good. The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg has become our species' primary directive.
As a champion of the underdog, I support the jellyfish's right to do what it thinks is best for itself.Thank you, Michael.It's always a sight to see tens of thousands of jelly fish blobbed together between the ship and the dock. Can that be a fun life?
Good article Ken! Always enjoy pondering life and how it looks through your eyes...Thank you, Marijo.I definitely have my own "eyeglass prescription!"
You write that jellyfish don't care where they go as long as there is something to eat. Well, that's me sometimes...love food. Dead bait, sushi...loved it. Seriously though, I enjoyed this article more than most I've read lately--covers a great topic in a great way--thanks for getting this out.I have never tried sushi. I can't help but think there is a hook buried in it!Thank you, Steve.Hooks are unlikely. Now pinworms ... maybe. I eat the stuff anyway. Who doesn't like the zing you get from the wasabi?
Ken,Great stuff. I like your personal, descriptive writing. Always a pleasure to read. You da man! Peace!Thank you very much, SIr Jeff!
Hi Ken.I loved your talk of "jelly wars." I can't imagine having a jellyfish thrown at me. But what a hoot it would be to throw one!As for the rest of it, I'm sort of with Gregory and his perspective. And anyway, not all of us can be movers and shakers. Some of us are plodders (me for example).Thanks for your take on the fish issue. I like trout so well that one of our cats (Weezil Trout the Fat-Tailed Cat) had Trout for her middle name. It was her speckled sides that did it.Happy day,DianneThank you, Dianne.Yea, the "Jelly Wars" were a lot of fun. They're only good for a couple of throws, though!
Nice allegory. There are way too many jellyfish and not enough trout in this world.
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