It’s been a while since my last post here. Usually I try to make a post once a season (or quarter) about what I’ve been up to, but I didn’t have much to write about in spring thanks to the ongoing pandemic and other things happening. I managed to get outside a bit once summer and good weather finally rolled around, so here are the usual photo highlights.
Thanks to COVID-19, air travel, dining out, activities involving large groups of people are not recommended, so pretty much the only things I could do were outdoor activities like hiking and going to parks. I went to a number of parks within the cities and towns in the area, especially before the weather got warm and nice enough for hiking in the mountains.
I also went out to pick raspberries. It was the first time I’ve picked raspberries and first time I’ve gone to pick fruit since moving back to the Pacific Northwest. The height of raspberry bushes make them pretty easy to pick, so didn’t take too much effort to gather enough raspberries for a week.
Once real summer weather came along in July, I started hiking again. It’s a late start to the season, so I’ve been going out on every weekend with favorable weather… and sometimes in unfavorable weather too.
Lastly, I picked a new hobby/activity in clam digging and collecting oysters. There are shoreline parks in the Puget Sound area that allow clam digging and oyster collection, and it looked like an easy and fun activities. You don’t need much equipment or skill; just show up during low tide and collect away. Clams require some digging in the tideland sediment, but my experience has been that is pretty easy to collect the daily limit of clams. I haven’t caught any of the big butter or horse clams yet, but the smaller clams are just as edible.
As for oysters, Washington requires shucking them on the beach and leaving the shell, so I ended up buying oyster shucking gloves and a knife. That made the job a lot easier. Below is a video of me shucking an oyster. Still working on the technique, but got the job done.
That’s all the updates I have this time. I’ll try to make the most of the good summer weather while it lasts. It’s important to still get outside given the indefinite work from home situation I’m in. One benefit of WFH is that I managed to lose 20 lbs of weight. The weight loss is mostly attributed to the fact that I don’t have access to all the food my employer provides, and when I cook for myself I eat less. I also jog on most of days as a way of going outside after a day of working at home, and that probably helped as well.
As we can all see in the news, things are not going that well in the US. COVID-19 infection rate is not under control, and there has been ongoing social unrest. With an election coming in November and a questionable economy, there is definitely a lot to be concerned about. I hope things will get better soon. Stay safe and take care of yourselves.
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