September 30, 1982 - Take Advantage of Nice DaysSECOND SECTION
The *Uffolh TiMC5
Take Advantage of /Mice Days
Fall is officially here and because of it
there seems to be an extra busyness
associated with our daily doings. It has
gotten so bad we have to remind ourselves
it's not the end and slow down. Yet it's
hard to do for we want to take advantage of
every moment of good weather.
Just this weekend the weather
forecasters had reported rain, fog, and
what I'd consider a pretty miserable
outlook. But it never came. So we
promptly filled those days with busyness.
Guess we all do this and it probably
accounts for the reason why bills don't get
paid, birthday cards don't get sent and
special events marked on the calendar are
passed by. 'Our intentions are good but
busyness takes over.
Evenings afloat can be so rewarding
that we took off Friday night with the
intentions of returning the next morning
because the forecasters predicted rain and
cloudy weather. Well, as I said, the
predictions never came about and we ate
supper under a new moon that lay low in
the west and later when I went to bed the
sky took over with its array of stars.
Just before turning in, I checked the
anchor as all good sailors should do and
marveled at the great blurred flashes of
iridescence from the comb jellies as they
drifted by hitting the anchor line. These
flashes could also be seen occasionally
from the black waters about the boat and I
imagined some fish or other creature
having bumped into one.
We've all seen these jelly -like globs
about two inches long in our water during
the daytime. Of course, they don't sting
like the jellyfish with their long tentacles
and can be easily handled. When looked at
closely, you can see their iridescent veins
among the jelly. It's these veins that
glowed that night with such brilliance.
There are also little tiny phosphorescence
in the water that can be seen as a cloud
wherever movement occurs. I imagine
they are the young of these comb jellies.
Plans For the Day Change
Since we had only planned an overnight
stay, we were up early and out on deck.
Everything dripped with dew. As we
pulled up the anchor, thoughts of staying
all day squeezed into my head but, no, a
better and more productive idea came
about. Let's go scalloping. And so home we
headed and got the gear necessary for
Saturday morning's trek.
I had a few favorite spots to try but when
we got there we found that someone had
been there before us. After all, the bayman
whose livelihood depends on scalloping
doesn't let any grass grow under his boat.
We couldn't complain when we got enough
to satisfy our needs.
Many of the scallops had great growths
of slipper shells and grass on them which
made me wonder just how far they could
travel with such an added burden.
Everyone knows scallops can jet
themselves about by opening and closing
repeatedly thus forcing water in and out of
their openings which in turn pushes them
backwards. It's said that this is how they
escape the scoundrel whelk. The whelk,
being slow moving, cannot prevent the
scallop from jetting away.
Scallops are filter feeders just like
clams, oysters and mussels and if viewed
up close underwater the beautiful string of
blue eyes can be seen around the edges of
the opening and also the hair -like filters
that sort of cover the opening. It's almost
like a netting when the scallop lies
partially open.
The eyes do not see as we think of eyes
seeing but can distinguish light and dark.
The shadow of my hand would make the
scallop close. Perhaps this is one of its
defense mechanisms when something
large approaches.
Later I was reminded of my father's
ultimatum whenever we went hunting or
fishing. "You get 'em -- you clean 'em"
and so we both sat down and opened our
scallops into a stainless steel bowl. Fresh
scallops can't be beaten and to most top
the list of seafood that comes from our
bays.
Clams Added to the Catch
Not to let the day go by without
squeezing every bit out of it, I slipped over
the side of the boat and did some
clamming. Funny thing, the only clams I
can find in the bay are large chowder
clams. There are no small ones but
nevertheless these were welcome and
were added to our catch.
The clams were a little bit more difficult
to open. They were so big and tight that I
had to use a hammer on my clam knife to
get into them. There are ways to soften
them up so you can get into them but I
thought if the job was to get done the
hammer was my best bet.
Barbara took advantage of the large
shells and made stuffed clams by mixing
celery, onion, and bread crumbs with
some magical ingredients and the ground
clams. This was all put into the shells and
two trays went into the oven to be cooked.
We'll have some for supper and the rest
we'll freeze to be eaten later.
Sunday Nice Day Also
When Sunday came around the rainy
days and miserable weather that were
again predicted still had not arrived and so
we decided to go beachplumming and
called up friends of ours who could keep a
secret. Barbara and I knew it probably
was too late but with a little luck we'd be
able to get enough for just a few jars of
jelly, since last year's had left the shelves
in the cellar a long time ago.
Half the fun of going beach plumming is
the walk to get there. We saw yellow legs,
spotted sandpipers, green herons, snowy
egrets, black ducks, and others along the
way.
When we got there it was so warm we
had to take our sweaters off because the
brisk east wind was quieted by the trees.
True enough, we were late and only a
small amount of berries could be found.
After half an hour or so of picking we all
decided to give up and walk along the
beach. It was different from last year
when the same spot produced over a pail of
beach plums. Next year we'll not let beach
plumming slip by.
We had reaped the reward that all of us
can take advantage of out here on the East
End but besides the actual food we put in
the freezer and our stomachs it was just
getting out that was the real treat. Fresh
air and activity with good people does
something for both mind and spirit. It's a
cure for most of our troubles.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH
ALL ISLAND
TRACTORS EQUIPMENT THE ORIGINAL
Qlalb Solce - Sc zv« - �r POWER BOX
WEST BABYLON, N.Y. 11104
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SEPTEMBER 30, 1982
STUFFED CLAMS - -A bit of the bounty our East End offers those who take
time to enjoy it to the fullest. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
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