BIG TUNA: This story reminds me of when my Uncle Carroll told me that I just had to come down to the harbor with him. The tuna boats were in, he told me, and they had brought in the biggest tuna anybody had ever seen.

Of course, as a highly sophisticated 12-year-old, I knew that tuna comes in very small cans. I must have believed a “big tuna” was unlikely to be very big or interesting. I went with him from East Boothbay to Boothbay Harbor (Maine) only because my mother would have thought me rude if I’d declined.

But Holy Toledo! The tuna—Atlantic Bluefin—were huge—well over 1000 pounds each. And the tuna fishermen had fascinating stories.

Lesson learned: Highly sophisticated 12-year-olds run the risk of missing out on things.