Dumping Day!

Today is Monday and the kids are off school all over Nova Scotia!

For those of you that are not aware - Nova Scotian life seems to revolve around fishing and hunting seasons.
At the moment we're coming towards the end of 'deer' hunting season and there are so many deer around. We actually saw one run out across the road infront of us when we were driving the other day. Fortunately Rachel was able to put her foot down on the break and avoid hitting the deer. We also know this guy called Frank who shot a deer last week and has promised to give us some deer meat which will be cool.

That's one of the perks of living here.
Today, is the first day of lobster fishing season. People make loads of money here from lobster fishing, but it's one of those jobs where you have to start work at 3 or 4 am and you get home at 9pm and you go straight to bed! So glad that I don't have to do that. Well, apparantly, most lobster fishermen take their kids with them on the first day of lobster fishing season every year, which is why every year on this day, the kids get the day off school!

That's so cool! It's nice for kids to spend that day with their dads (those whose dads are lobster fishermen of course).

They call today 'dumping day' because it's the first day where they dump their lobster traps in the water. They would've been working on preparing those traps all of last week.

Below is a picture of a lobster fisherman at work...
Did you know that..

A lobster trap has what is called the kitchen where the bait is put. The bait is usually either fresh or salted herring or mackerel. The lobsters enter the traps to get the bait and go into the parlor or bedroom where they can’t escape. There is however an escape mechanism fitted to the trap which consists of a spruce lath with three 1 3/4 inch holes attached to the parlor. This is for the undersized lobsters or tinkers to escape from. Tests show that about 60% of them actually escape.

The traps are dropped from a boat and the spot is marked with a buoy so that it may be found again when it is time to haul the traps. If the weather is good the traps are hauled the next day and reset. The season usually starts the last Monday of November and runs until the end of May.

So if you want to, feel free to pray for all the lobster fishermen today to catch some lobster! We have one lobster fisherman in our church. Our friend Frank who hunts deer is also a lobster fisherman and while writing this blog, he called us to say that he has injured his back from all the bending over he did last night and this morning. So please pray for Frank, he has to go out again on the boat at 11pm tonight to haul the traps in and prepare to put them out again in the early hours of the morning. He doesn't know Jesus, but we pray that Jesus heals him today.