Oysters dear

Yesterday we watched and heard the USAF Singing Sergeants, our own Stacey Holliday on stage, concert in The Villages, Florida, two concerts streamed live at three pm and again at seven. A selective, exclusively small group of marvelous talent. They have a busy tour schedule, a bus or their own 747 like Air Force One? The practical side of me wonders what the Air Force does to keep them from catching colds and spreading the infection among each other. 

Clear sky this morning, no clouds, that’s smoke from the paper-mill, breaking up into cloudish puffs as it drifts south and west and dissipates.

From a young man whose wedding I’m to officiate in a couple months, a gift of tuna, so this morning’s breakfast will be tuna seared crisp on both sides and red center. ETD, our underway time is nine o’clock for Apalachicola. Lunch probably upstairs at the Owl Cafe. Of restaurants I’ve found there, they have the best fried oysters. 

Now if you're ready, Oysters dear, 
      We can begin to feed.' 

But not on us!' the Oysters cried, 
      Turning a little blue. 

To get enough, I order the oyster appetizer and the oyster green salad and dump it all together. Ranch dressing because to me the creamy horseradish dressing robs the oyster flavor. While the menu lists “Fried 13 Mile Apalachicola Oysters” that’s wie es heißt and with due credit to the solemn assurance at the menu’s bottom border, unless they’re harvesting their own, most “Apalachicola” oysters may be from Alabama, Louisiana or Texas anymore. Regardless, while I’m waiting, a draft from Oyster City Brewing Company across the street. At the Owl they generally have two or three of the OCBC beers on draft. 

On a Wednesday once years ago, when we lived in Apalachicola and Linda and I were on staff for a Cursillo weekend, we stopped at 13 Mile on the way to Beckwith and picked up a gallon of for real 13 Mile Apalachicola oysters for the staff, who gathered Wednesday before the pilgrims arrived Thursday evening. We were on staff many times over those years and I don’t remember the date even by the car we were driving at the time as is my usual method; but I do remember that even though I was driving, about a quarter of the gallon of oysters were slurped down by me by the time we arrived at Weeks Bay. 

O Oysters,' said the Carpenter, 
      You've had a pleasant run! 
Shall we be trotting home again?' 
      But answer came there none — 
And this was scarcely odd, because 
      They'd eaten every one."

Once again with thanks, Lewis Carroll, “The Walrus and the Carpenter.”

DThos+ 

Ship: BBC Steinhoeft, 453x70 arriving, meeting her tug just to west of 7H

Tug just pulled two barges in from the Gulf of Mexico. Here, because pulled barges are not manageable in closer quarters, the tug master will do his "dance" arranging the tugs so he can push them in the narrow channel. He may take them to the terminal just down the beach from us, or into the inland waterway east or west.