The life of a clammer: wet, nasty and brutish

    Updated: 2013-05-05 07:36

    By Kirk Johnson(The New York Times)

      Print Mail Large Medium  Small

    The life of a clammer: wet, nasty and brutish

    OCEAN CITY, Washington - Some razor clammers take a methodical line, a slow, eyes-down stroll through the outgoing tide, watching for the divot that marks a clam's hiding spot, half a meter or so below the surface.

    At age 82, John Lavender takes that approach. He walked the beach here on a recent morning with the cool calm of a clam digger's wisdom, born of 50 years' experience.

    Then there's Garrett Lavender, 12, his grandson. For Garrett, digging razor clams is all about the charge, jump, dig, shout. The extended Lavender family drove six hours from their homes in south-central Washington to be here.

    "They're faster than we are," Garrett said, slamming into the sand with his shovel. Moments later he was face down, arm deep into the hole, grasping for his prize before it could escape.

    Pacific razor clams are sweet and meaty, a seasonal delicacy that finds its place in high-end restaurants in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, each two and a half to three hours away. They are also on the dinner plates of any recreational digger willing to buy a license and do some physical work in conditions that are sometimes cold and invariably wet. The season runs from October to May, with dates selected by the state based on clam stocks and when the low tides are right.

    The life of a clammer: wet, nasty and brutish

    "I've been out here when it's rain and sleet mixed," said Mary Wyman, who came down from Whidbey Island, north of Seattle. Like most diggers, Ms. Wyman was using a clam gun - essentially a metal tube that, when shoved into the beach, pulls up a column of sand with a clam enclosed.

    The relationship of humans and razor clams goes back thousands of years around here. The Indian tribes that dominated this part of the coast lived well, and also traded well with inland Indians who knew a good thing when they tasted it.

    European settlement in the 1800s took clamming to an industrial scale (with a brief turn back to subsistence during the Great Depression of the 1930s when squatters lived on the beach in driftwood shacks).

    Then starting in the 1960s, recreational clamming took off. According to state figures, clamming hit a peak in 1979 as a wave of scruffy outdoorsiness filtered through the Pacific Northwest culture.

    John Gillespie, 75, a retired game warden who first began clamming here in 1967, said his 10-year-old granddaughter cannot get enough of the digging, and a 14-year-old grandson who could not care less.

    He and thousands of Washingtonians still do it each spring and fall - buying a license and obeying the rules and the limit of 15 clams per day. But for many it is now more of an epicurean thing, or a nostalgic echo of a life lived closer to nature.

    Mr. Lavender said he missed last season only because of chemotherapy. This year, though, he was not to be held back.

    "He was bound to come," said his wife, Merle, 81, who was strolling the beach with her own clam gun. "And he's bound to get his limit, even if it takes all day."

    The New York Times

    (China Daily 05/05/2013 page10)

    亚洲av无码不卡| 日本欧美亚洲中文| 久久久久亚洲AV无码观看| 国产午夜无码专区喷水| 亚洲中文字幕无码一区| 今天免费中文字幕视频| 亚洲AV无码乱码在线观看牲色| 国产aⅴ激情无码久久| 亚洲欧美日韩在线中文字幕| 亚洲伊人成无码综合网| 国产精品无码一区二区三级 | 亚洲va中文字幕无码久久 | 日韩AV无码一区二区三区不卡毛片 | 激情无码人妻又粗又大中国人 | 午夜福利无码不卡在线观看 | 亚洲国产AV无码专区亚洲AV| 亚洲av中文无码| 中文字幕在线观看| 中文字幕亚洲精品无码| 国产成人午夜无码电影在线观看| 亚洲AV永久无码精品网站在线观看 | 精品无人区无码乱码大片国产| 亚洲AV综合色区无码另类小说| 中文字幕av高清有码| 中文字幕在线最新在线不卡| 色婷婷综合久久久久中文| 人妻无码人妻有码中文字幕| 中文字幕无码高清晰| 中文字幕日本人妻久久久免费| 中文字幕无码不卡在线| 久久无码一区二区三区少妇| 国产亚洲情侣一区二区无码AV | 无码人妻久久一区二区三区蜜桃| 国产精品无码久久综合| av潮喷大喷水系列无码| 国产成人无码精品久久久久免费| 久久久精品人妻无码专区不卡| 久久亚洲av无码精品浪潮| 欧美日韩亚洲中文字幕一区二区三区 | 久久精品aⅴ无码中文字字幕不卡 久久精品aⅴ无码中文字字幕重口 | 亚洲人成无码www久久久|