Lovely writing as usual, from the disturbingly inappropriate cousin (that reminded me of my own childhood) to the oysters and middens. I visited a 1500 year old one on the shore of New Jersey. And my first raw oyster was with my father at a long gone seafood restaurant attached to a fishmonger's. You always remember it, don't you? Like Bourdain says. "it was a brave man who first ate an oyster," and maybe that's way. My mother prefers cherrystone clams, and I like those too. Those are lovely snake photos, and I'm glad more people appreciate them now. I learned to stop telling adults that I found a harmless snake the first time they killed it.
Chris and I have never liked oysters, but when we were in Tasmania, we decided to go to a famous oyster restaurant/farm/market and had a sampler of them cooked about 5 different ways. Verdict: We have tried very good oysters. We do not like oysters. https://barillabay.com.au/
Lovely writing as usual, from the disturbingly inappropriate cousin (that reminded me of my own childhood) to the oysters and middens. I visited a 1500 year old one on the shore of New Jersey. And my first raw oyster was with my father at a long gone seafood restaurant attached to a fishmonger's. You always remember it, don't you? Like Bourdain says. "it was a brave man who first ate an oyster," and maybe that's way. My mother prefers cherrystone clams, and I like those too. Those are lovely snake photos, and I'm glad more people appreciate them now. I learned to stop telling adults that I found a harmless snake the first time they killed it.
Oysters
Our shells clacked on the plates.
My tongue was a filling estuary,
My palate hung with starlight:
As I tasted the salty Pleiades
Orion dipped his foot into the water.
Alive and violated,
They lay on their bed of ice:
Bivalves: the split bulb
And philandering sigh of ocean
Millions of them ripped and shucked and scattered.
We had driven to that coast
Through flowers and limestone
And there we were, toasting friendship,
Laying down a perfect memory
In the cool of thatch and crockery.
Over the Alps, packed deep in hay and snow,
The Romans hauled their oysters south of Rome:
I saw damp panniers disgorge
The frond-lipped, brine-stung
Glut of privilege
And was angry that my trust could not repose
In the clear light, like poetry or freedom
Leaning in from sea. I ate the day
Deliberately, that its tang
Might quicken me all into verb, pure verb.
Seamus Heaney
I love this, and not just for the generous shoutout. That said, I confess I have never had oysters, nor do I suspect I ever will.
Chris and I have never liked oysters, but when we were in Tasmania, we decided to go to a famous oyster restaurant/farm/market and had a sampler of them cooked about 5 different ways. Verdict: We have tried very good oysters. We do not like oysters. https://barillabay.com.au/
If you search online for the Taman Beji Griya waterfall, you might see photos of the huge serpent sculptures carved in the waterside stone.