# Return of the Guides



## Capt. Chris Martin (May 22, 2004)

Maybe youâ€™ve heard of swallows returning to Capistrano. If not, you can google it. Hereâ€™s the short version. Written by Dr. Richard Beck.

Father John O'Sullivan was the pastor of Mission San Juan Capistrano from 1910-1933. One day, while walking through town, Father O'Sullivan saw a shopkeeper, broomstick in hand, knocking down the mud, cone-shaped swallow nests under the eaves of his shop. The birds were flying about,Â shrieking over the destruction of their nests.

"What are you doing?" the upset O'Sullivan asked.

"These dirty birds are a nuisance and I am getting rid of them!" the angry shopkeeper responded.

"But where shall they go?" asked O'Sullivan.

"I don't know and I don't care," replied the shopkeeper, slashing away the nests. "These birds have no business here!"

O'Sullivan paused and then said, "Come swallows, and I will give you shelter! Come to the Mission. There's room enough there for all."

The very next morning, Mission San Juan Capistrano awoke to find the swallows busy building their nests outside the church. And every spring thereafter, the migratory swallows would return to nest at the Mission.

O'Sullivan and the Mission began to celebrate the "miracle" of the annual return of the swallows on March 19, St. Joseph's day, an eventÂ still celebrated at the mission. 

We donâ€™t have Swallows at Bay Flats Lodge but our guides and their boats were driven away, not by an angry shop owner, but by Hurricane Harvey. The boat barn was empty for almost two weeks but yesterday, just like the swallows of Capistrano, the guides and their boats all started to come back. 

Welcome home guys. Letâ€™s hope you donâ€™t have to leave for a long time.


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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

You guys perform a service down here under normal circumstances. But you are going to be especially important in bringing tourists back to our communities. In fact, you're one of the most important links in the chain right now. Please pass that on to all of the guides. Every person, family, and company that comes down to fish is a boost to businesses that need them. Buying supplies locally would be a nice gesture. 

And leave me a few to catch when I can get back to fishing.


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