I was catching up on paperwork (reconciling bank statements, and such) yesterday when Capt. Rob came by and asked if I wanted to go clamming. There was no contest. I changed into my swim trunks, slathered on some sun screen, and gathered up my clam rake and floating basket. Rob had his three year old daughter, Mariah Daisy, with him, and I thought Lachlan might enjoy tagging along. But he already had plans to meet some other children on the Sound. So it was just the three of us.
The water was warm...and peaceful. As we pushed our rakes across the sandy bottom we watched gulls and pelicans glide by overhead. Crabs scurried past us now and then, and off in the distance we watched the Cedar Island ferry as it made its way across Pamlico Sound.
We didn't get many clams. Just enough to make "clams casino" appetizers. But, really, we were out there as much for the natural therapy as for the prospect of collecting dinner. And we weren't disappointed.
Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the second half of my father's short journal. I call it Remembering Growing up on Ocracoke. You can read it here.
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Do tell what is the fashionable water shoe to wear when clamming?
ReplyDeleteOnce again you rushed off without your camera. drat.
The fashionable Ocracoke water shoe? Why, bare feet, of course.
ReplyDeleteI quote a few lines from Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem "God's Grandeur":
"And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod."
Even if you wear shoes other places, take them off on Ocracoke, at least at the beach, and in the water. Get some sand between your toes.