- Episode 5
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- Goats, Caves and Dunes
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- The next morning, the twins were so fascinated by the goats on the restaurant’s roof that they wanted to skip breakfast and watch the goats instead. They were finally lured in by the thought of Swedish pancakes topped with strawberries and whipped cream. It’s not the nutritional value of ham and eggs, Agnes thought, but once in awhile...
- “Let’s go to the caves first,” Mal suggested during breakfast. “They sound really neat, and I want to see how the water carved them out.”
- “I know. You just want to see more waves,” Mel teased.
- It wasn’t a particularly windy day, so the waves and the water splashing as it hit the irregular walls of the caves weren’t as spectacular as Mal had hoped. What he wished was that he could join the two snorkelers who were exploring interesting formations carved out of the limestone.
- Mike suggested that they all take off their shoes, explore some of the rock formations from the shallow waters and then enjoy the views from the hiking trail. Mal soon forgot about snorkeling. Wading along a shoreline in cool, ankle-deep water tends to do that. So does peering down into sea caves from atop a small cliff. It was just dangerous enough to be exciting, but not so dangerous that it could be called treacherous. Even Rufus sensed how close he could come to the edge without slipping over the edge.
- The family spent a pleasant afternoon walking the boardwalk over wetlands and then a walking trail at Whitefish Dunes, explaining to Mike how these dunes looked similar to, or different from, the Indiana Dunes.
- “Well, aren’t you going to look for buried treasure?” Mike asked, jokingly.
- “I don’t think so, Grandpa. It was really hot last time, and I had to bury myself deep in the sand to cool off. Otherwise, I’d never find it,” Mal said quite seriously.
- At the visitor center, the family learned that Whitefish Dunes was home to at least eight different settlements of Native Americans, the earliest from about 100 B.C. Mel was fascinated by the exhibits displaying examples of pottery, highlighting the different pottery designs and decorations that the different settlers made.
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- Watched Pots DO Boil
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- They drove to the restaurant where they had made reservations for the fish boil. It was early, so they sat down at one of the picnic benches to watch the preparation.
- Two of the restaurant’s “boilers” had just finished filled a big black kettle with water that was hanging above a stack of logs and were preparing to start the fire.
- “That’s a HUGE pot!” Mal exclaimed. “That’s not all for us, is it?”
- “No,” Mort said. “More people will be coming. It’s good we got here early. We’ve got a perfect view from here.”
“Absolutely. Ringside seats,” said Mike.
- The water started to boil as the fire got hotter. One of the boilers took a sack and poured a good amount of its contents into the boiling water. “Is that salt?” Agnes asked. It looked like far too much for the size of the kettle. She would never add that much in her soup or other recipes.
- “It sure is,” answered the boiler. “It’s only half of what we’ll use for tonight’s boil.”
- Ever the chemist, Mort commented that adding that much salt would certainly raise the specific gravity of the water. And that would make all the ingredients float to the top instead of sinking to the bottom of the kettle.
- “Hmm. That makes sense,” said the boiler. “Let’s ask the master boiler. He’s the owner.”
- “You’re absolutely correct,” said the master boiler. “It also causes the oils from the fish to foam up...and out. You’ll see what I mean in a few minutes.”
- The first boiler brought out a perforated metal basket that reminded Agnes of a colander, except that it had a handle. It was filled with potatoes and onions. The boiler waited until the water came to a full boil before lowering the basket deep into the water. Then he went in and brought out a smaller metal basket filled with fish. The master boiler added more salt and then nodded to his assistant to lower that basket into the water.
- The master boiler watched the kettle closely, once the water started boiling again.
- “I thought a watched pot never boils,” said Mike, as the adults groaned at his joke.
- “Dad, I’m sure they hear that at every dinner,” Mort sighed.
- “Actually, it’s quite rare. People are so fascinated with the boil, they forget those old sayings,” said the master boiler. Another example of knowing how to treat your customers right.
- “Speaking of fascinating, now’s the time for some fireworks to finish the cooking,” the master boiler announced. He took some kerosene and threw it on the fire. Flames shot up and surrounded the pot, causing water and the foamy fish oil to “overboil,” spill out over the kettle and onto the fire, putting it out.
- “Wow!” both twins exclaimed at the same time. Other guests gasped while some, who had been to fish boils before, had their cameras ready and snapped pictures of the flames.
- As the dinner plates were being prepared, Mort shook his head and smiled like the proverbial “cat that caught the canary.”
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- Another Extremophile in the Family?
- “Reminds me of a chemistry lab I took in college,” he began.
- “I would think it was an outdoor cooking class, dear,” said Agnes.
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- “Actually, it WAS a chemistry lab,” Mort continued. “Chemistry wasn’t my best subject back then. I was reading the instructions for the experiment right there for the first time, at the lab bench, so I didn’t have a good overall idea about it. We were supposed to be making methyl orange. It’s used as a pH indicator. Mal, Mel, do you remember Dr. Ethyl’s explanation about pH?”
- The twins shook their heads.
- “Well, that’s ok, because it’s not important. All you need to know is that methyl orange is a beautiful orange dye. You know what a dye is, don’t you?”
- The twins nodded.
- “There was this really cute girl in the lab that I was trying to impress. I pretended that I read all the lessons and started weighing out the chemicals listed in the book. Then I began following the preparation steps. By the way, this style of conducting experiments is called “cookbook chemistry.”
- “Cute girl, huh?” Agnes asked. “What was her name?”
- “I don’t remember, Agnes. Anyway, I DID impress her, just not the way I wanted,” Mort continued.
- “After I added the chemicals in the flask and started heating it, I noticed that I forgot one very important piece of instruction. It said, ‘add boiling chips to your flask for safer heating and to prevent it from bubbling over.’
- “By this time the liquid was quite hot, so I thought I’d better throw in some of the boiling chips right away.”
- “Ah hah!” Agnes exclaimed, laughing heartily. “I’ll bet you impressed her, all right. Just how orange did you get?” Agnes obviously knew a little something of “kitchen chemistry.”
- Mike and the twins were confused at Agnes’ hilarity. So was Mike. “What happened?” they asked.
- “It was an eruption! Like Mt. Vesuvius, except orange,” Mort exclaimed, standing up and pantomiming a volcanic eruption with his hands. “That’s what happens when you put cold boiling chips into a hot liquid. They do exactly the opposite of what they’re supposed to do when you put them in BEFORE you start heating up the liquid. Our magnificent show here reminded me of that awful day.”
- “What about the girl?” Agnes asked. She couldn’t help but wonder the kind of person Mort was interested in back during his college days.
- “These were the first words she ever spoke to me: ‘Forsooth! Thine flask bubbleth over well, methinks.’ She and the class were all laughing so hard, both at me and at the eruption. I was covered with orange splotches and my hands were orange nearly all over. Good thing I was wearing a lab coat and safety goggles.”
- “You never told me about that,” Mike said in mock sternness. “Hot liquid. Were you burned?”
- “No, that’s the amazing thing, Dad. Even though I was really close to the flask, I didn’t get burned at all. In fact, I don’t recall it feeling particularly hot, even on my hands, and they were covered all over in orange dye.”
- Mal and Mel looked at each other as they realized a certain similarity with Mel’s experience at Old Faithful geyser. “Extremophile. Do you think Dad’s an extremophile too, Mel?”
- “What are you two whispering about, Mal?” Agnes asked.
- “Oh, nothing Mom. I just thought about how funny Dad must have looked,” Mal answered.
- “I take it you raced to wash your face and hands before the dye set,” said Agnes, turning her attention back to her husband.
- “Oh, indeed. But that was my last attempt to impress that girl. Matter of fact, I don’t even recall her name. Barbara, I think. Or maybe Nancy,” Mort replied.
- “Likely story,” laughed Agnes. “It was probably Susan, or Elizabeth.”
- Everyone agreed that the fish boil meal was even tastier after Mort’s story.
- The next day they took their time making their way home, leisurely stopping at beaches and historical lighthouses, churches and other landmarks as the occasions presented themselves.
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 - LINKS: BOOK 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS
iNTRODUCTION TO BOOK 2
INTRODUCTION TO THE BIOFABLES SERIES
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