Busy Week: Manatee, Corn Maze, Apple Picking, Red Sox and Oysters

I've had a busy week and have a lot to catch up on (note the tagline for my blog) since my last post, last Sunday.... so here goes...

MANATEE:
Word on the Manatee is that the poor guy was on his way out long before they even hoisted him from the water. Now the question people are trying to get answers on is why couldn't they have done the rescue earlier. Hindsight...ya know. I still stick by my original post. Leave well enough alone. He probably had reasons for being here. Who knows. We move on...
(Click for More Photos)


CORN MAZE/APPLE PICKING:
Last Sunday was our traditional Fall trip out Amy's parents house in Holden. We go through a big Corn Maze and go apple picking. The Maze is huge and has a different theme every year. This year it was Oympics. So far, the only year we've made it out without help was our first year. Since then, we've had to ask the "Maze Assistants" for clues. They hang out on the bridges. Still, even with help, it took us over 3 hours to get out. After that, we got our annual half-bushel of fresh apples. So good.
(Photos coming soon)

RED SOX:
YOUUUuuuuuuuuuuk! Here we go again. Hoping for another good game tonight. I've bootlegged a bunch of red sox stuff from the web and the kids and I made T-shirts for the game last night. (looks like the team spirit helped our boys!)
(Photos coming soon)

OYSTER SUNDAYS BEGIN:
Finally, today was "Oyster Sunday" in Brewster. Hmmm "Oyster Sunday." I just realized how much that sounds like "Easter Sunday." Funny because the two days share similar traditional "hunts." On Easter Sunday, of course, the kids hunt for Easter eggs. On "Oyster Sunday," its the adults that do the "hunting," and it's oysters they're after.

The town of Brewster, has several open shelfishing seasons during the year for differennt types of shellfish. Currently it's soft-shell clam and oyster season. I have my secret haunts for finding the softshells, but sadly, the oyster stocks have all but been depleted. However, twice a year, the week before a certain designated Sunday, the Brewster shelfish constable "releases" a cache of the town's (aquaculture-farmed) oysters at a specified location on one of our beaches. (Basically, he floats over the designated area in a skiff at high tide and flings out the oysters.) If you have a Brewster shellfishing license your entitled to go wade out into the brine with a pair of barbeque tongs with around a hundred or so other enthusiastic competitors, and seek out your limit. It truly is a giant aquatic Easter egg hunt for adults. [more photos]

Today I found 56 oysters (my limit of 5 quarts) which if you like oysters, is WELL worth the yearly license fee... currently $20. Here they are displayed on my favorite piece of pottery. A platter made by my friend Keith Kreeger. (Hey Keith, let's eat!)
[more photos]