When I found this ghost net today I had mixed emotions, I was happy to take it out of circulation, but dismayed at the thought of innumerable ghost nets floating out there killing as they go. One less is good, but I wish someone would invent a way to collect the others.
The articles of clothing that wash up onto the beach are always weighted with their stories. I try to imaging who wore them, and how they lost them. This red and white striped shirt does not feel like it was "Made in Canada," the material is coarse and not stretchy, almost as though made on a loom. You can see the colour has run as it lay crumpled on the sand. the cut is long and narrow, and there are no tags; it might be hand made. Maybe it was worn by a tanker ship sailor from the Philippines. He took it off and laid it on the deck because it was hot and he was working hard. Maybe his mom gave him the shirt before he left port six months ago. And then a gust of wind grabbed the shirt and flung it into the ocean. What could he do but watch it float for a while and then sink. Another piece of home lost.
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