May 18, Jewels of the sea

I went out for a walk at low tide the other day with my fancy new rubber boots. These boots, not exactly made for walking, but they do keep my feet dry and allow me to cross the creek to get to Hobbit Beach. It was quite amazing, the low tide, stretching so much farther out and exposing previously unseen sandbars and rocky outcroppings. I walked a mile south, almost to the head, then turned around to walk closer to the bluff, checking out what the higher tide might have left behind.

I found a used styrofoam float and worn piece of nylon rope and picked them up. I came upon a long piece of very large rope, maybe 2” in diameter and about 40’ long. Not the kind of beach debris I’m going to cart to the garbage can. I noticed it had quite a few mussels attached to it. I was going to continue on my way, but then had the idea that these mussels might be easy to detach from this rope and make a tasty snack. I didn’t want to be greedy, and I didn’t have a container to carry them in so I decided I would just pry loose six of these morsels from the sea. They were easily detached from the fiber rope and I stuck them in my jacket pocket, picked up my trash and headed home.

I deposited the trash in the garbage bin and then once I was home, I got out a pan and put a little bit of fresh water in it to let the little mussels spit out the excess sand. I didn’t give them much time to accomplish that as I wanted them for my breakfast. I know my vegan and vegetarian friends are now cringing at the thought of me cooking and then eating these gentle creatures, but I did offer up a blessing of thanks to the sea goddesses for providing me with this nourishment. After about 15 minutes, not really enough time for them to expel the sand, I put them on the heat and quickly they were ready for my consumption. A taste of the sea, a true delight, sand and all.

Since that went so well and there were many more mussels on that rope I thought the next day I would go back and get some more after acquiring an appropriate vessel for carrying them back to my kitchen. A stop at the local Dollar General provided me with a bright green plastic bucket with requisite yellow plastic shovel suitable for building sand castles. The next morning before the weather enhancements in the form of unrelenting rain began again I walked the beach to find the length of rope with my dinner attached. This time I decided to select more of the smaller mussels as the one large on I had seemed to have much more sand in it than the smaller ones. Again, I didn’t want to be greedy and take more than I could eat in a meal, so I selected a dozen or so. Then just two more, then just two more. I had about a third of my little bucket full of these beauties. I stopped at the creek to put in some fresh water for them to sit in for the day, to give them an opportunity to spit out their sand as they rested under the trailer.

When dinner time came around, I retrieved the bucket and scooped out about a dozen or so of these little sea jewels. I realized that I had taken more than I could eat in one meal, so I left the others in the bucket, safely tucked in underneath the trailer overnight, figuring I could have them again the next night. I chopped up some green onions, splashed a little bit of white wine in the sauce pan and place them in it and turned the heat to a gentle warm. Within minutes they were ready to be my dinner with some lightly buttered pasta. Delish!! And to think I paid $16 for a similar meal at a restaurant in town. They were a little sandy still even after having sat in the fresh water for about 10 hours, but delightfully fresh and satisfying. I was so looking forward to having this meal again the next day.

The rain actually stopped overnight, but it was still cloudy and I could not see the full lunar eclipse. I also didn’t hear anything in the night, rooting around under the trailer having a snack. Since it wasn’t raining I thought it would be a good chance to sweep out the trailer and the exterior areas and that’s when I noticed the bucket tipped over. Someone else had a nice dinner of those jewels from the sea without having to work too hard for them.  Every one of them had been opened and completely cleaned out, seaweed and all. I’m happy to share and I know where I can find some more, the rope is still there.