I first took my daily morning walk on the concrete-paved promenade of New Hampshire’s Hampton Beach State Park back in October. Starting that morning near the southern end of the park, I began looking for some kind of landmark that I could use over the next couple of months as a turn-around point for the routine of my walk.

I soon found exactly what I was looking for.

I found the fish.

The fish is a granite sculpture entitled “Pale-scaled Snapper.” It was created in 2011 by Alexander Renard, an Armenian-born artist who, at the time, resided in Eliot, Maine.

The sculpture is one of several art works installed in the park by the N.H. State Council on the Arts during the Hampton Beach State Park Redevelopment Project that ran from May, 2010 to November, 2011.

“Pale-scaled Snapper” is approximately 46″ long, 23″ tall and 12″ wide. It is displayed on a large round, two-tiered, concrete and granite pedestal that is located on the southern end of the Park’s Central Beach Access. The pedestal elevates “Pale-scaled Snapper” so that it is eye-to-eye with a six-foot tall admirer like myself.

That October morning, as I turned at the Central Beach Access to head back south, I had a thought: “Pat the fish.”

So, I did. (And still do.)

“Pat the fish”

As the phrase rattled around in my head for the next few days, I decided that it would make a good title for a new instrumental guitar piece.

Here, many stolen moments later, is what I came up with:

“Pat The Fish” – created and performed by Eric Sinclair.

“Pat The Fish” was recorded in the guest bedroom of our rented Hampton Beach condominium on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 30, 2016. I used the GarageBand app in my iPad outfitted with an external Zoom iQ6 XY Stereo Microphone.

Hampton Beach State Park was established as a state park in 1933. It is 1.2 miles long and extends along the southern half of New Hampshire’s coast line. The Park is bordered on the west by Ocean Boulevard/Route 1A.

P.S.: On the morning of the day after Thanksgiving, “Pale-scaled Snapper” had something in its mouth. The space had been carefully filled with a fish-sized meal of mashed potatoes, green peas, carrots and turkey. The next day, the food was gone!