Paying Attention

Filed in Breadcrumbs on January 8, 2011 with 1 comment

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968

 

Ansil guided us through the mangroves. My mind fidgeted but my eyes found his hands and focused there. I watched as his hands on the oars guided the wooden boat through the mangroves. Soon my mind joined my eyes and forgot to worry.

The night before an intruder had robbed us while we slept in our Bimini hotel room.  A few hours later Ansil Saunders stood before us. He smiled and brushed aside the events of the night before.

“I will take you bonefishing for free.”

We followed him like children to his big American car that seemed out of place on an island where most people traveled by golf cart. He drove us to the spot here his boat was tied.

For the rest of the day as Ansil guided us through the shallow waters we concentrated on spotting the nearly invisible bonefish.

We learned that the best approach was to stop trying to see the fish and just cast where Ansil pointed. When we did that, we caught fish.

Ansil brought us to an open space in the mangrove. “They call this Bonefish Hole, but I call this Dr. King’s Creek of Peace because this is where I brought Martin Luther King.”

Dr. King had come to Bimini at the invitation of Adam Clayton Powell to work on his acceptance speed for the Nobel Peace Prize. King had spent the day with Ansil not for bonefishing, but for relaxation. I wondered how long it had taken his mind to stop fidgeting and focus his eyes on Ansil’s strong hands.

Ansil gestured to the sky, the water, and the mangroves. “Dr. King asked me what I told people who still doubted the existence of God. I told him I didn’t have an answer but I would the next time.

When King returned Ansil had his answer.

As we sat in Dr. King’s Creek of Peace, Ansil shared the Psalm he’d recited for him “…and God made the fish that swim in the ocean, the cows the graze beside it and the stars that shine above…” As he spoke he gestured to the ocean, the shore and the sky.

That was Martin Luther King’s last trip to Bimini. A few weeks later he went to Memphis.

About the Author

I sat at the table in the little house next to the creek that was also just beginning to thaw and wrote. Pye Dives for the Oarlock Getting Baptized What I Left Behind Running Fishing With Mama They made their way from memory to story and then I stopped. I pushed aside Life Story and went kayaking on the creek now completely thawed and filled with spot and sailboats fishing boats and swans and just a few jellyfish. When I started again I wrote in a tiny room I could hardly breathe in that room. But I wasn’t there to breathe I was there to write. Back To Embudo Stephen Moves Into His Studio And I Get Drunk Mama Dies The Festival I added story like a child adding ornaments to an already full tree. Which was my favorite? Where did it belong? “I remember when I collected this one.” “I don’t care for that one any more but I cannot discard it yet.” Some had poetry. Some had pictures. Some even had recipes. Quince Preserves. NC Bar-b-queue. Collards. It was a feast. I fed bits of Life Story to friends then to strangers who swallowed it whole and said “May we have some more, please?” I gave it to them and went back to make more Life Story. When it was finished I sent Life Story on a journey with only a flimsy letter to keep it company. I was disappointed when Life Story came home with an even shorter rejection letter.

Comments (1)

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  1. Ned Stone says:
    January 13, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    I am happy to say that Ansil is still guiding people to Bonefish in Bimini. He is a facinating man who played around Hemingway’s feet as a child. He has met the Queen of England twice and Miss Universe once. He guided Jerry Lavenstein to a 16-pound Bonefish that is still the Men’s 12# Line Class World Record.

    I am proud to call him a friend and I look forward to seeing him this weekend.

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