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September 23, 1999 - A bike to the bay to start the daySA • The Suffolk Times • September 23, 1999 A bike t0 t e �. t0 star t t � e day , I ve been holding off going biking with Barbara using the excuse that the past humidity and high temperatures were just too much for me to be trav- eling with her on her early- morning rides. All those logical reasons fell apart when the weather changed and cool weather took over. Of course, that meant pumping up the half -flat Focus on my bike that had gone ON unused for the past month and NATURE so with 60 by Paul pounds of air to Stoutenburgh help us along, we were off on one of the nearby back roads that eventually leads down to the bay. We had gotten up early, so early that the start of our biking caught the sun just peeking over the trees to the east. In this low -level light every blade of grass, every leaf of every plant was backlighted in sparkling dew. Our world was oozing moisture from the previous day's downpour of four inch- es of rain. It seemed to be trying to make up for its past month's absence in one glorious downpour. As we pedaled along we were par- ticularly taken by the one- to two -inch- long drooping heads of the foxtail grass. It literally hung with silvery dew. Clumps of yellow butter -and -eggs greeted us as we pedaled eastward, along with great clumps of pink smartweed. Most of the so- called road- side wildflowers we see are not true native plants but rather introduced species from overseas. Most have been here for so long that they're considered by some as part of our wildflower her- itage. They came as stowaways in bags of seeds such as corn, wheat, rye, barley and other grains that were and still are the backbone of our agriculture. One only has to look at the label on any grain bag and it will tell you the per- centage of foreign material in it. An early - morning workout My legs weren't in the greatest shape for pedaling and I was strug- gling to keep up with Barbara, who seemed to be breezing along without any apparent difficulty. Thank good- ness for the ability to shift gears on the modern bikes; it makes getting up those hills so much easier. We were so early hardly any birds were up and about. Surely there were no swallows flying for the early air was still too cool for insects to be about. We did see a mockingbird guarding his "berry patch" of multiflora rosehips that will be used to see him through the cold winter months ahead. As we left the open spaces of the farmland, our road led us into a more wooded area with houses nestled off to the sides. Some were old homes of the '30s or thereabouts, while others bragged of a more recent era. Some places were a long way off the road with their houses hidden from view, but their age was given away by the fences along the road. In the early '20s and '30s intricate cedar fences were common. It was a day when labor was cheap and many owners could afford the extrava- gance of hiring the skills that went into these elabo- rate decorative fences. Sorry to say, they are a thing of the past. The few that remain are mostly rotting away and one has to look hard to find any trace of these rare gems of East End folk art. Red cedar was the choice of wood for these ornate fences, porch rail- ings and garden arbors. It was chosen not only for the wood's ability to with- stand rot but for the many and varied shapes this rugged wood takes as it grows. Actually our red cedar is not a true cedar at all but a juniper. It's one of the first tree invaders of land left fallow. Its fruit is eaten by a wide vari- ety of birds and when its seeds pass through them, it becomes widespread over the countryside, making it a pest in some fields if left unchecked. Cedar is fast growing and is being used more and more by landscapers to set the tone of a more natural landscape. I myself have used this hardy evergreen along the hedgerow that surrounds the pasture up back. It has one real disad- vantage to orchard growers and that is it harbors the dreaded apple rust that can raise havoc with fruits; otherwise I'd recommend its use wherever ever- greens might be needed. The first leg of our early- morning bike trip finally ended down on the bay. My, how the water sparkled and how bright the sun and how fresh the air seemed to us. We laid our bikes on the fence at the end of the road and headed up the beach. During our three - quarter -hour stroll the only per- son we saw was a lady walking her dog. I wondered why there weren't more people about on the beach and Barbara reminded me that it was the why there were so many of them. Could it be that a storm had dislodged them from the moving sands? Or was it that the gulls had found these half - grown razor clams and feasted on them? As the name implies they are the shape of an old- fashioned shaving razor, about a half -inch wide and, on the average, about six to seven inches long. The one razor clam that was alive Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh Years ago when the world ran at a slower pace and labor costs were low, red cedar fences and porch railings were in vogue. The cedar was usually there for the taking and once built, these extravaganzas would outlast the nails that held them together. Not many of these products of East End craft can be seen today, but hidden away a few still tell of another, gentler time. Tape your pick! U -PICK APPLES PUMPKINS (Weekends Only) LENIN FARMS BAITING HOLLOW NURSERY From LIE, Exit 68 N to end of road. 25A east, 2 miles to Sound Avenue. Second right, Fresh Pond Avenue. 929-44327 Open 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. • Closed Tuesdays week after Labor Day. No wonder we had the roads and beaches to our- selves. How familiar the beach was to both of us. From our earliest beginnings as kids, beaches like the one we were walking had lured and fascinated us both.'Ibere were the scallops shells that reminded us of the hopeful open- ing days of the coming scallop season, the jingle shells of our early youth when we'd gather these thin - shelled orange- and - yellow discs to make neck- laces, the hard clams that told the sto- ries of clam chowder, clams on the half shell, clam fritters and, of course, Barbara's famous baked clams. Nearby was a soft -shell clam that we as kids would chuckle over and call "piss clams." We even spotted the pure -white angel wing shells that burrow in the bog, and speaking of bog, there was the occasional rib mussel that clings to the marsh bog in our creeks and somehow found its way over to the bayside. But of all our friendly finds, the ra- zor clams Barbara spotted captured our interest the most, mainly because of their numbers, and one in particular was still alive. Most of the razor shells were freshly vacated and we wondered had already tried to dig itself into the sand when Barbara spotted it. It does this by extending its pointed foot or muscle into the sand and when it's suf- ficiently buried, it then lifts itself up and completely retreats into the sand below. All this can happen in less than 10 seconds. Razor clams, like all clams, are ed- ible but to catch them is a different story They are often spotted on sand bars because of their habit of squirting water from their sandy holes below. One would think then all you would have to do is to walk over and dig them up. Not so, for the razor clam is very sensitive to the slightest vibra- tions and your careless approach sig- nals "Dig deeper." If you dig, the razor clam keeps just ahead of your digging. I know, for I've often tried, sometimes with success, other times failure. Our beach walk gave us a break before we headed home. By then my legs did not seem to object as much and the sun had warmed the land- scape. This spurred the flying insects into the air so that the migrating swal- lows were back over the fields taking advantage of the insect world. It was a good way to start the day. TICK SPRAYING Lyme Disease, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis Prevention 324 -9700. 287 -9700 ORGANIC Free Estimates llh� SOLUTIONS www.tickcontrol.com EAST END TICK CONTROL AND PROW The Sensible Solution Inc.