Consider the Lobster

Don't even tell me, because I know -- this is just about 100% O/T. My town is more than 100 miles from the coastline, so it seems unlikely lobsters fall into the "locavore" or "sustainability" category, and I'm procuring these guys from a (small, family) Maine purveyor using non-earth-friendly packing and shipping methods. Except that I've been reading Trevor Corson's The Secret Life of Lobsters, while musing over what to serve for my first at-home Christmas Eve dinner, which means SEAFOOD under one of the very few family traditions I follow, and...inspiration struck, what can I say.

The Maine lobstering community in the Cranberry Isles, ME, reminds me a lot of our local farmers here in the Pioneer Valley. Some of the same concerns prevail -- market conditions, large-scale, outside corporate and governmental influence and regulation, the changing environment, and managing for sustainability. They are specialists in their field, conscientious about not over-fishing, and while they compete for product, they seem to have a great deal of respect for one another.

A few fun facts about lobsters (there are more here) -- did you know:

*There are more than 50 species of clawed lobsters
*There are hunchback locust lobsters, regal slipper lobsters, marbled mitten lobsters, velvet fan lobsters, musical furry lobsters, unicorn and buffalo blunt-horn lobsters
*Female lobsters choose the males they want to propagate with
*Lobsters of the same size may challenge each other using a form of claw-wrestling. After about 15 or 20 seconds the "loser" will try to back away, and the "winner" will release his grip.
*There are, occasionally, blue Maine lobsters.

Read Corson's book to learn about "superlobsters" -- a brief point in a lobster's development, when they can almost "fly" through the sea before finding shelter, shedding their shell, and growing larger.

Or for more fun facts -- just don't rely on them to be true -- check out John Hodgman's unique coverage of lobsters in The Areas of My Expertise.

I was always a little queasy about the idea of cooking lobster at home, and you'd think reading this book, understanding how special lobsters are, might not have resulted in my ordering lobster for Christmas Eve dinner. Maybe I just got hungry... But I'd rather think I was inspired to participate in the process a little more actively as opposed to occasionally driving to a shoreline and having a cooked entree appear magically before me. I want to take a little more responsibility for what I'm eating, and understand it better.

So, four 1.25 pound lobsters (smaller are sweeter) will show up at my door on Christmas Eve, and after reading up on many options for their dispatch, I plan to boil about an inch of water in a big pot, thank them, drop them in, hold down the lid, and try to forgive myself. I don't think I'll be naming these guys -- couldn't possibly top what's already been done before.

I'm going to stop whining about "the kill" now because I'm starting to remind myself of my absolute favorite poem...

Happy holidays!