Pondering Oysters

Down near the pier, there is a pile of oyster shells. These oysters were shucked back several months ago and the shells have been sitting in this mound waiting to be carted to some area that needs to be filled or placed back in the water in hopes of starting a new, small reef. As Ezzy and I take our hikes around the Bayou, she (being the dog she is) always has to stop and sniff this pile. Even though the stench of the shells has mostly diminished by this time, I am quite sure that there is enough distasteful odor left in the shells that I would not want to stick my nose anywhere near them! She, on the other hand, will without fail poke her nose right down in them and if I would not be watching her carefully, she would probably flop down and roll around on the pile. Ugh! What a stinky dog that would be!

Today as she sniffed, I began to ponder the oyster and how that made Biloxi into a booming, little town back during the 1800's. If it had not been for the seafood industry, perhaps this town would not have progressed as far as it had. At first, the shrimp and oysters were used only locally and most homes had much larger piles of shells in the yard! It was pretty much the norm for everyone to know how to shuck an oyster as soon as they could handle the knife. Later, when the seafood was shipped to all parts of the country, it seemed kids, as soon as they could walk, were put to work in the "factories" or canneries. By 1903, business was booming and Biloxi became known as "Seafood Capital of the World". The oyster, along with shrimp, played a huge role in building a town!

Speaking of huge, several years ago, while I was digging a hole to plant a bush in the yard, I found a rather large oyster shell about two feet under the ground. This shell was gigantic compared to usual oyster Mark brings home. Most of the oysters taken today are in shells of approximately three to five inches in length but this one is a good ten inches in length! That had to be one massive oyster! Being so deep underground made me wonder just how old this shell was and who had shucked it. I kept the shell just because of its size! Personally, if I am going to eat oysters, the smaller the better! I prefer the little things that are about the size of a quarter when shucked..and then fried to a crisp!