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Showing posts from August, 2011

Oystergeddon: Willapa Bay's Benevolent Face

  Rhodesia Beach (Close to the Mouth of Willapa Bay ) (Drawing from The Five Chinese Brothers , by Claire Huhet Bishop and Kurt Wiese) Tides. They’re a mystery to me. Sometimes I go to the beach and they’re out. Sometimes I go to the beach and they’re in. Until recently, my best hypothesis for the broad expanses of beach exposed at low tide was derived from a book I read in my childhood called The Five Chinese Brothers. The disappearance of all the water from a bay can be attributed, according to the book, to the first Chinese brother swallowing the sea. Since he can not hold the entire sea in his mouth for very long… …I know it is unwise to walk out into the bay as far as Uncle Rico and Kip have in this picture. For instance, this would be a terrible time to hear the tsunami sirens. Uncle Rico perfects his cockle hunting protocol. Gently dragging his rake behind him, he remains alert to the subtle impact of shell against rake. We spend the