PABLO’S FREE TIME

WHAT DO I DO WITH MY SPARE TIME? FUNNY QUESTION. The whole concept of spare time is interesting. Utilized time vs. extra time. How do you decide which is which? It’s all the same to me. But I understand. You want to know what do I do on days like this one, when the sun isn’t going to come out, the surf is pretty flat and I don’t have any pressing business. Well, frankly, I like to work on puzzles. When I was a kid, we always had a table set up in the living room. The most intricate landscape you could imagine, shattered into 1,000 pieces, and it was our job to put it all back together. My mother, sister and I would work for hours at a time. We never did the same one twice. I remember the first: walruses lounging on icebergs backlit by a fiery sunset at the North Pole. I didn’t think we’d finish it; all that expansive white, and the animals were pretty much the same color with identical tusks. For a while all we could figure out was the blue ocean and the orange sky, and the edges of course—that’s the first thing you do. But we stuck with it for days and slowly the image on the box was reproduced on the table. It felt like quite an accomplishment.

Puzzles are a waste of energy? Did you work out that opinion during your leisure time or regular business hours? If you’d ever done one, you’d know that puzzles required a great deal of concentration and discipline. It’s like meditation. Wait, I’m not going to justify. It doesn’t matter. I’m working on the Grand Canyon right now. 1,200 pieces.

I like to fish, been doing that since I was a kid. In the summer when the water is warm, I’ll get in with a spear gun or a Hawaiian sling. I like diving best because the fish and I are equals, level playing field. Hey, a big shark comes along I could be dinner too. Although I’ve never seen a really big shark, I’d like to. I love sharks. If you’ve got to go, a shark attack seems about the perfect way out. Anyway, it’s hard to spear fish, requires skill. They’re very fast and they love to hide in eelgrass, behind reefs or underneath rocks. A good spear fisherman must have excellent breath control—takes years of practice.

The rule is: if you kill it you eat it. It’s a code I’ve lived by my whole life, started by my mother and her insistence that we honor all living things. It’s one of the reasons I did-n’t throw rocks at squirrels and such or torture cats when I was a kid. I knew my mother would make me eat it. But I did hunt for fish. As a youth I was unskilled and impatient, I would shoot just about anything. Nothing was too small for that bloodthirsty kid. And once I killed it, I would eat it—every time. I built a fire right there on the beach and cooked up my prey on a stick over the flames. I liked it best when there was an audience. Choking down bony little fish was a point of pride for me. I felt self-sufficient and strong. I still like catching fish and cooking them on the sand. Man in nature.

I like to read novels. All kinds of novels; I am not a snob. There’s nothing better than losing yourself in someone else’s story. Most nights you’ll find me with my nose in a book.

Poaching weed is my passion. I love spending time up in those mountains, love the beauty of the land, the changing of the seasons. (Yes, we do have seasons.) And I enjoy the intricate strategies I develop in order to successfully complete my missions. I work very hard on my business plan but it’s like another puzzle, something that I enjoy. I’d poach weed even if it didn’t pay. It’s that much fun.

I do spend a lot of time on women. I like women and they like me. I especially love messing with my clientele. It’s like a fringe benefit of being in the business. Get them high and let them ride the painted pony. I’m rarely turned down. The fancy ladies always smell so good. I love it. Most of them are married or involved with someone so nothing ever really sticks and that’s just fine with me. Not a lot of room in my camper, you know? I’m not looking for a roommate.

The future? Don’t really think about it much. Can’t see any point, really. Most plans fall through, you know? I’m right here, right now. That’s good enough for me.