April Fool

We have just finished a misty-moisty walk. The weather map says there is no rain in the area and we were promised clearing skies, but, Ha!, I haven't seen them yet. We walked under a heavy, dark sky in what we like to call "liquid air".  April fools!

It's April now, but we won't be needing any of those damn April showers to bring us May flowers. We're still trying to get our March flowers to come. 

Thursday was a bit of a Fool's Day too. You are looking at a clam-digging failure.

 When we arrived at 9:00 this beach was full of cars and people, digging clams. This is how it looked at 11:15 when we finally called it quits.

We left home at 6:00AM, and stopped in Olympia for coffee just before the sun rise. 

The sun was at our back as we drove west. 

 We got to Aberdeen and it was about 8:00, the time when we had hoped to be at the beach. Obviously we miscalculated, because we still had an hour to go.

 Once we got out to the coast we had to go north to get to a beach that was permitted that day for razor clam digging. 

 And that takes us back to that failed clam digger with her empty bucket. Well, there was a half of a clam in there. 

When we arrived the wind was howling and the rain was coming sideways. By the time I got on my rain pants and muck boots and rain jacket, the rain had thankfully let up. The tide was way out, of course, but there was still a layer of water on the sand and the wind was rippling it so that it was hard to see the dimples in the sand that indicate where to dig. 

We went to where others had already dug - you know, those guys who know what they are doing, are wearing hip waders and got there two hours before low tide. But there was not much in the way if picking left for us. Someone told tom that they were finding then mostly at the surf line. Now the tide was coming in. 

Tom got three clams, and I dug up several sand shrimp for my efforts. Kind of reminded me of that John Denver song Two Shots, "I took two shots, got no ducks, and cold, cold hands."

At least the rain didn't return, so it wasn't horrible.  We peeled off some rain gear and went looking for food. We found some in Seabrook, someone's grand idea of a beach resort in the middle of nowhere. 

It had just opened for lunch, and although I really wanted a big fisherman's breakfast, I behaved myself and had a cup of lovely, hot clam chowder and salad.  Tom had chowder and crab cakes. 

We then set off to find a wonderful nursery we had visited last year on a clam digging trip, and, alas! It was gone, closed, stripped naked, nothing left but the skeleton buildings. 

We did make a stop at this little bulb farm on the way back to Olympia. 

 That tower you see in the background is from the abandoned Satsop Nuclear Power Plant. It was 75% complete in 1983 when it ran out of money and was never completed, much to the glee of the anti- nuke folks. 

 We did buy a few plants that are destined for pots on our patio. 

We were tired at the end of that day, and not too pleased with ourselves. But it was still an adventure. Not all adventures turn out as planned. 

Friday we were up and off to breakfast with our usual Friday morning group. Then we shopped for groceries on the way home. After that I got the on line banking done and the bills paid. After lunch I finally got my primroses planted on the front porch. 

We both took some time to sit and read and rest before gearing up to take the Link into the city for Sounders game. We gathered with other fans for the march to the match at 6:00, then had time for a light meal up on the third deck concourse at the stadium before the game started. Yep, clam chowder for me!  And no rain!!!

No foolin'.