Wise Old Lobsters
A cartoon in my fish store lists lobster prices according to size. The highest per-pound price goes to the 1 1/2-pound lobsters, and the lowest to the 40-pounders. "Can you imagine a 40-pound lobster?" I asked my 'monger. "Ha!"
"That's no joke," she said, as she plucked the biggest lobster I'd ever seen from her tanks and put it in my arms. Before I could say "sea cockroach," I was cradling a 25-pound female lobster.
A bit of web research shows that the biggest lobster ever recorded weighed over forty pounds, and one celebrity lobster who became a news item earlier this year was estimated to be 140 years old. But before you feel sorry for these old crustaceans, consider this: lobsters improve as they age. They continue to grow, don't slow down, and actually become more fertile, according to How Stuff Works. In fact, many believe that lobsters have the chromosomal secret to eternal youth.
For those who believe that youth is wasted on the young, it would seem that lobsters have the advantage. Though they might end their lives as the highlight of our summer feasts, they'll never waste a second thinking about wrinkles, gray hair, or menopause.
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