Fellow Traveler

oh, do click to enlarge this photo.

i was reminded of fellow travelers during dinner. in my youth fellow traveler meant communist. i recall reading about senator joseph mccarthy, he of commie fighting fame, when i was in high school. the red scare. commies in the state department. "fellow travelers" shielding them and pooh poohing the senator's claim of traitors everywhere. huac was one of his legacies of lies and mendacious innuendo. the house unamerican activities committee (huac) held hearings in may of 1960 in san francisco, a month before my graduation from high school and 25 miles away from me. there were protests. fire hoses washed the protestors down the stairs of the main rotunda inside city hall.

it was a time when those who dared exercise their freedom to speak were labeled traitors. senator mccarthy was asked, famously, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" by special counsel for the army joseph welch in senate hearings. though mccarthy was publicly disgraced, and abandoned by many former supporters, his indecency lived on. there are those who, even today, insist that he was correct in his assessment of the communist threat and thus justified in his morally and ethically challenged methods.

deja vu all over again. now the baddies are terrorists, and our government leaders use lies, innuendo, and cries of treason to silence critics.

today i went clamming. the weather was between mist and light drizzle when i left the house, and the same at tide flats, mostly. i didn't dawdle, and explored less than usual, though still noticing the changes in the beach since last i was there and the sunlit cascade mountains on the horizon. i headed straight to my super triple secret place, where i found a dozen clams fairly quickly. well, there was that 8 inch long bright orange worm/millipede-like thing i had to carefully unearth (unsand?) and watch for a bit. just as i was deciding that i had enough clams the wind picked up and the drizzle turned to real rain. it was a five minute walk into the windy rain back to my truck. i got medium wet but stayed almost warm. it was a wonderful day out there.

RD made a most delicious thai curry of chicken, red pepper, zucchini, onion, and mushrooms for dinner. i boiled half my clam harvest. my side dish. as i reached out to pick up a clam i saw a strange something in/on the clam's body.




a tiny crab! cooked inside the clam! a fellow traveler. we saved the little crab. i ate the clam. it was tasty, dipped in thai curry sauce. this little fella is 3/16 of an inch across the long way of his (?) body.