I’m not a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl. I’m a planner. I have to think things through. So yesterday morning when my sister-in-law, Suzanna sent me a message asking if I wanted to go to the beach and collect shellfish the first thing that when through my mind was me trying to push one of those clam guns into the sand and whether I could actually do it. My response was, “Um, boy that sounds like a lot of work.”
Then my brain kicked in with that line from a Darius Rucker song, When was the last time you did something for the first time. I responded with, “What the heck! I’ll go.”
On the way to the beach, we stopped for my shellfish license. Gotta be legal! Then we headed to Potlatch State Park. Once at the beach, we gathered our tools which did not include a clam gun thank goodness. Â
Suzanna shows off her first find.
What a perfect day! Oyster shells littered the beach. Most of them were empty but if you looked a bit and turned some over you’d find a live one.
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| This is a cluster of several oysters |
In Washington State, you have to shuck your oysters on the beach and the limit is 18 per person, per day. They are not easy to open but once you get the hang of it, it’s doable.Â
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| Shucking Success! |
After oysters we started on clams. This type of clam is below the surface of the sand but not far. You rake away a few inches of sand, rocks and shucked oyster shells. The clams can be seen as you rake but you have to be careful to measure them so you don’t take the undersized ones.
We got our limit of clams and oysters then cleaned up and hobbled back to the car. After a stop for lunch we headed home to relax for a while. Such a fun day!
Murphy got his stitches out Friday. He’s all healed up and ready to romp.
I saw my orthopaedic surgeon on Thursday. He says my fracture has healed well but he still wants to take the plate out. They’ll be calling to schedule surgery for early September. It should take about 6 weeks for the screw holes to fill in so I’ll have to be careful. One more step in the journey!
I’m so excited that I finally figured out how to see your writings and comment. I’ve been limited to reading only and been following your journey for a long time. I’ve been a widow three times – yes, it’s not a good idea to be married to me! I’m not being investigated because they had cancer, heart attack and choked on a piece of meat in a diner. However, the widow’s walk is one foot in front of the other and I admire your spirit so much. There are some interesting womens camping groups to join which I intend to do.
You go girl!!! It's so easy to sit back and become complacent – life is too short for that!