Clamming at the Coast

On Saturday, Nate and I headed to the coast with 4 other guys in Nate's lab to try our luck at some west-coast clamming. The extra-low tide created good conditions to go for razor clams on the beach. When we reached the parking lot, at 5:40am, we were surprised to find it already full of cars and people donning their boots and waders. We got ready and headed down to the beach with our shovels, where the veteran razor-clammer among us, Jason, told us his tips on finding these fast-moving bivalves in the sand flats and surf. You're basically looking for either a sand squirt or slight water movement, to indicate that a clam below the surface is pumping its siphon. Then you have to dig quickly into the sand, on the surf-side of where you saw the movement, then drop down to your knees and start digging even deeper with your hands. Razor clams are fast and they can scurry deeper and out of reach if you're not quick enough. Plus, their name is indicative of their razor-sharp shells, which can cut your fingers up pretty badly if you're not careful.

After Jason got one or two, we all spread out and started looking for our own clams. I was successful on my first digging attempt and was foolish enough to figure that I'd have my limit in no time. The daily limit for razor clams is 15/person and we all had hopes of reaching our limit that morning, but it ended up being a fairly slow day. Jason got 10, I got 2, a couple of other guys found 1 apiece, and we all decided that Nate must have used up his fishing mo-jo on steelhead, because he didn't get any....But, it was apparently a fairly slow morning for most folks out there (we were among hundreds on the beach).

Next, we headed over to the estuarine mudflats behind the Hatfield Marine Lab to try our luck at 'gapers' (horseneck clams) and cockles, and had better luck with those. Horseneck clams have a neck that can extend nearly a meter long from where they're situated down in the muck, up to the surface of the substrate. To find them, you have to stick your finger in a hole and see if you can feel the neck retreating down, then dig down to the clam. But luckily, these guys don't move much at all, so it's mostly just a game of patience and determination to dig down to them. I kept getting stuck in the muck and nearly toppling over in my boots, so I quickly abandoned the gaper-search for the easier hunt for cockles, which can be found right on the surface of the mudflat, though your odds of finding one that is alive and tight-shelled are about 1 in 100. Still, Nate got a few gapers and we both found some cockles and a few other clam species, too, to take home. The photo above shows the post-docs (Nate and our friend Valerio, Nate's office-mate, an Italian who is over here for a short-term post doc in Lorenzo's lab).


We ended our trip to the coast with a tasty fish 'n chips lunch at a funky/ramshackle looking place that ended up being a great mom-and-pop type eatery, savoring our deep fried sea bass (rockfish) and french fries after a cold and mucky morning on the flats. And for dinner that night, Nate and I made a simple dish of clams, sauteed in olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes over spaghetti, with our first-of-the year garden-grown salad greens.

Monkey Business

At the risk of shocking those of you who start reading unprepared, this posting is about our 20 week pregnancy ultrasound, so the picturesque scenery you're about to see is of a different kind... We can report that little Monkey (gender = surprise to all until birth) appears to have acquired Nate's activity level (high) and my flexibility (also high). Here's one of the 3-d images the ultrasound technicians gave us, which shows Monkey's face, left shoulder, and left leg, resting on the placenta like a pillow. Looks like we have a yoga-master in training! (And don't worry, the head is fully formed, it's just that the ultrasound only captures information in a single plane of depth).


During our 45 min. ultrasound exam, he/she flipped over at least 4 or 5 times. The technicians patiently waited for moments of rest in order to get the 20 or so particular images/measurements they have to record (e.g., eye orbits, head diameter, heart ventricles, spinal cord width, hands, feet, etc). Of course, Nate and I are pleased to see that we have an actively little bugger growing in there!

Easter

The spring bulbs and flowers are up in full force around Corvallis. Our backyard cherry tree (we think it's a Rainier?) is at its peak bloom this week, reminding us that fruits are just a couple months away. The garden I planted in our raised bed (leeks, spinach, lettuce, peas) finally seems to be showing signs of some growth, likely related to the nice dose of sunshine and warmer temps lately.

For our Easter Sunday meal, Nate and I purchased a 6lb. half-ham (bone in) from the nearby OSU Meat Center, a small storefront that sells cuts of meat from animals grown at OSU and butchered/processed by students in the Meat Sciences program. Along with the ham, we made a cold asparagus salad, homemade biscuits, red potatoes with herbs, and some festive cupcakes for dessert. I made stock with the ham bone and we look forward to a batch of split-pea soup soon (Nate's favorite) with the left-over ham (which we froze).

Nate's in Iowa City this week, meeting with statisticians at the Univ. of Iowa to work on some modeling for a side-project he's involved in with his post-doc. He's also on a quest to eat some Iowa prime-rib and pie (both recommended by one Brian Degan, who was born not far from there and who seems to know the good-eats in Iowa!).

Travels, near and far

It's been a while since we've posted anything. The biggest excitement we've had since our last entry is that Nate went on a two week trip to Saudi Arabia, as a researcher on a joint Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute - King Abdullah University (Jeddah, SA) project studying reef fish in the Red Sea. He was invited along to share his expertise in doing fish surgeries, but unfortunately, a paperwork glitch prevented the surgical supplies from reaching them until the last few days of field work. Nonetheless, Nate made the most of his time by SCUBA diving, swimming with whale sharks (which were tagged by another researcher in their crew), and trying not to get too sun tanned. He brought back, among other things, the fillet knife pictured below, as well as a huge assortment of spices, saffron and dates (all purchased for under $10 US currency). I'm thinking we could make a pretty penny by selling the saffron at US prices to yuppies here in Corvallis! To see more of Nate's photos from his trip, check out his Fickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14468926@N02/sets/

Nate celebrated his 34th birthday while he was in Saudi Arabia, so we had belated birthday cake with him last Friday night. I made an Ambrosia cake - angel food cake with orange buttercream frosting, mandarin oranges, pineapple, and toasted coconut. We' ve been enjoying it all week...

This past weekend, we were treated to two solid days of straight sunshine and warm temperatures. It was absolutely delightful and such a welcome change from the somewhat dreary winter weather common to this region. We took full advantage of the sunshine by sunning ourselves on the driveway.

On Sunday, we decided to head to the coast. We got breakfast at a funky little restaurant in Newport, then headed south to explore Cape Perpetua State Park, a beautiful spot of rugged cliffsides and tidepools overlooking the mighty Pacific. After lunch in Yachats, we headed back home and enjoyed a few more delightful hours of sunshine. It continues today...what am I doing inside?!