The Oyster Tree

   Mark shucks oysters far down the hill near the marsh edge.  This is by my request because those things stink pretty bad after a few days.  I was not about to have the stench filtering into the Little Bayou House.  He is good with it as long as I ply him with mugs of hot coffee during his cold and often rainy job.  Since he gets a few sacks of oysters every couple of month, the shells have plenty of time to dry before he adds to the pile.  For a few days, however, that part of the property smells awful!  Some critters do not seem to think the stench is bad but I do.

  On a recent hike, I noticed something odd hanging in a cluster of vines in one of the oak trees.  Imagine my surprise when I found that the oddity was actually a couple of oyster shells about twenty feet off the ground!  The tree is not far from the shell pile but, still, something was amiss.  What in the world???  

  As near as I can figure, a raccoon must have thought the shells contained tasty tidbits so it toted them up the tree.  Once it had licked them clean, the coon dropped the shells and they became ensnared.  What a tale I could conjure to tell unsuspecting folks!  "Yes, this is our oyster tree.  We try to pick most of the oysters when they ripen but this year, Hurricane Zeta knocked them all to the ground.  You can see all the bad shells right there on that pile and there are the only two left in the tree."  Oyster tree!  Yep, sounds like it might make a good tall tale!

So...what is true??

  The other day, we heard of an incident where a man was arrested for "opening" oysters in his back yard.  He could not understand why it happened as he had "been openin' them all my life."  The story grew and grew (as tales do when they are passed around from one person to another) until the whole thing was out of hand.  Just what was true??  Why had this long time oyster shucker arrested?  I figured we had better get to the bottom of this since just about every local person has a pile of shells in their backyard from such activity...us included. Something did not add up with the story being told.

  Well, a bit of research...a lot of reading...and a couple of phone calls gave us a much clearer picture.  Come to find out, it is quite ok to buy a few sacks of oysters (from wherever as long as the sacks are tagged), bring them home and open them...for personal use.  You can eat them, share them with friends or even have everyone over for a meal but...it is not ok to shuck the oysters then sell them.  To do this, you need to prepare.  You have to obtain a license to sell seafood, have an enclosed area where the shucking takes place, devise a method of keeping the oysters (both in shell and shucked) cold and keep everything clean.  This is all for good reason and the way things should be handled.   With the recent uproar about Vibrio causing so many deaths, it is wise to use caution.  The "flesh-eating" bacteria can be found in raw oysters at times and it multiplies rapidly as the oysters warm.  Anyone eating an oyster containing the bacteria can be severely harmed or killed.  Duh...number one...keep those things cold!  Number two...it is not wise to eat raw seafood of any kind...oysters included.  And, yep, I know folks are going to put up a stink about that one but, when faced with the possibility of that oyster killing you, you might want to consider what you are putting in your mouth.  

  So..it is safe to say that the whole story was not put out there, at least, not fully and correctly.  No one was arrested for shucking oysters.  The guy was arrested for not following laws that were made for the protection of others.  Makes sense.  It is quite ok for you and your buddies to sit in the backyard, shuck a few oysters and tell tall tales to your hearts' content.  Feel better?  A lot of folks down here do now that they know the facts.

Coast Tradition

  I took a picture today of Mark and our son, Mark, Jr. shucking oysters.  The two of them had some great "together" time as they sat far down the hill from the house.  Here, away from the hubbub of the chattering, giggling and baby-talk (the sweet baboo of a granddaughter is here!), they could share a bit of closeness without being interrupted.  While I so longed to be with my son, it did my heart the world of good to see the two of them enjoying a bit of quiet time together.  I slipped down the hill to catch a few pictures of the happy time.  When my sister-in-law saw the pictures, she remarked how this seemed to be a Coast tradition.  That remark struck a chord with me in more ways than one.

  I know Missy was referring to the oyster-shucking being a Coast tradition but, the truth be known, this father/son oyster-shucking thing is also a tradition.  For possibly as far back as civilization here, whenever fathers and sons needed a bit of time together for whatever reason, a couple of sacks of oysters could provide them with the perfect venue for a meeting of the minds.  If a son needed a bit of fatherly advice, if a father needed to reprimand the son in a gentle way or the two of them wanted to chat about some recent exploits, some private time could be gained by shucking a few oysters.  Most of the time, the women of the household would respect that need and sort of steer clear of the "shucking yard".  Sure, a lot of the ladies could shuck as well or (in some cases) better than some of the men.  They were often right out there helping but when the guys came in and announced they were "gettin' some oysters", that meant "we need time."  It was understood and respected.  This great Coast tradition of father/son time has carried on for years.

  Today's shucking time brought smiles to both of the Marks and to all of us at the Little Bayou House. While they were outside confabbing, Joanna, Mary Ruth and I were having our own "time".  The bond between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was glued a bit stronger by the addition of a sweet baby.  I feel so blessed!  Perhaps that old-time father/son tradition of oyster-shucking was also meant to give the ladies of the house a bit of together time.  If so, I consider this one great tradition and intend on preserving it as long as I can.  I simply adore my daughter-in-law and always hope to maintain our closeness with special attention.