Helllloooo everyone,
After reading this board for quite a while, I've finally been moved to post. I was inspired by our trip to the Dallas Apostachilifest, where Princess and I met lots of terrific people in various stages of exit from the J-ho's. Everyone there had a story, many of them quite painful, and this thread isn't intended to minimize their experience in any way. It was a privelege to meet the people whose stories I've read in this forum, and I wish you all the best. The thing that really made the trip for me, though, was hearing about the interests, pursuits, and passions of others. I can still hear Megadude likening a Cozumel drift dive to "flying". His sister Jade, a recent college graduate, overcame her fear of water to become a diver. Her husband Greg lit up when the conversation turned to diving, and the night ended much too quickly. I wish you could have seen the looks on the faces of Valis and Catholic School Girl as they described trout rising to take a fly, or the reverence with which they spoke of their gear and technique. Wild Turkey had me convinced that there must be no better place in the world to party than Shreveport, Louisiana, and I intend to confirm that in person some day. There were a host of other great discussions as well, all of which led me to ask of you, tonight, "What are you doing with your Sunday's?" Most of us have a little more time on our hands, after our eviction from dubdumb. What are you doing with your time, now that you free to spend it as you wish?
The following pictures show what I'm doing with some of my Sundays. I love to scuba dive, and Rachel's brother Randy is my regular dive partner. We travel to a spot about an hour away from Edmonds on Washington's Hood Canal, and shuck oysters on the beach during low tide. This trip, Randy and I dove for crab, adding 5 crab and one huge scallop to the dinner table. Rachel's father, Dave, and another brother, Stephen, shucked several quarts of oysters, and dug up about 4 1/2 gallons of steamer clams as well. The tidal inlet here is home to Bald Eagles, Sea Otters, and lots of other wild critters. Shucking oysters, knocking back a few swimming in Tobasco, sipping cold drinks, shooting the sh**t, solving the world's problems all the while. It is always a great trip, and I wanted to share it with you.
This is me displaying a couple of prime examples of Dungeness crab. First lesson, always grab the backside. Of course, there are a lot of people in Dallas who already know that.
Introducing Dave and his son Stephen, hard at work.
And this is the King Family Offensive line, L to R, Dave, Randy, and Stephen.
Rachel (Princess) and Randy at the dinner table that evening
Stephen and his wife Tracy, struggling with the eternal question, "more oysters, more clams, or more crab?"
Alas, my own children, Zoe and Rhys, could not be persuaded to try oysters, clams, or even crab. They had hot dogs, the universally accepted food for kids.
I hope you folks enjoys these. Now I'm looking forward to reading about you. What are you doing with your Sundays?