Oyster Shucker's "Lawn Furniture"

Mark drove over and picked up a couple of sacks of oysters this afternoon.  He loves these things.  Me..not so much.  It is not that I particularly dislike oysters..they had just better be fried to a crisp if you want me to eat any!  None of that raw stuff for me!  Anyway when he got home, Michael toted the oysters down the hill.  I..umm.."sweetly" suggested that Mark does his shucking quite a distance from the house!  Unlike folks who open a dozen or so and then bag the shells for the garbage pickup, Mark opens a lot of oysters at one time.  The shells mound up in huge piles and are later either transferred to the Bayou or used under the fig trees.  In the Bayou, the critters will pick the shells clean and then use the shells as part of their habitat.  Under the fig trees, the shells provide drainage and as they decay add much-needed calcium to the soil.  If the shells were left in these piles near the house, they would stink like nobody's business!  They, also, draw flies, Yellow Jackets and ants!  Critters like raccoons and rats would absolutely love to forage around in the shells hunting for that one elusive oyster.  So...the shucking is done well down the hill!

Once he started his shucking, I made a pot of coffee and hustled down the hill to bring him a cup.  As I was making the hike, I watched him.  He would grab a large shell, shake it and then proceed to open it.  This process is done with an rounded tip knife but it was not that that caught my interest.  It was the little, lopsided bench where he was sitting that amused me.  Most folks would probably be even a mite leery about sitting on the thing but it is actually quite sturdy.  The shucking bench is a homemade thing about a foot wide and nearly three feet long.  It is made of whatever salvaged wood that is readily available and slopes precariously to one side. City folk might think this is trash but ask any of the locals and they would agree that these benches are almost required as "lawn furniture"!  All of the "old timers" had their own special touches added to the bench.  Some have "L" shaped stops added to the top.  This feature allows the shucker to brace the shell tightly when forcing the knife between the shell halves.  Other benches do not have this feature as the shucker depends entirely on their strength to brace the shell.  

The old bench sits out in the weather year round.  It has weathered blistering heat, freezes, hail storms and hurricanes.  During Hurricane Katrina, the bench was washed far, far away from its usual spot under the old, oak tree.  The shucking bench is grubby and battered but it still provides an essential service.  It is still useful.  It is and will be a part of our place as long as Mark is able to open those oysters!