In the spirit of the holidays, we’re counting down our top four guest posts until Christmas! These posts were the most viewed and shared this year and totally worth another look. In fourth place we have Christina Arguelles’s post – enjoy! And congrats Christina!!
As a Florida girl I was raised on the water. My dad had my brother, sister and I on the boat every weekend. We would tube, knee board, and swim. I remember always being fearful of alligator. Every time my brother was behind the boat on his knee board- always checking behind to make sure he did not fall or that my dad didn’t steer the boat too close to the swampy areas. On weekends when we were not on the boat we were fishing in a near by lake and competing to see who caught the largest fish- the fish were never large and I always seemed to loose. I, also, adamantly refused to put live bait near or onto a hook- this responsibility was left to my older brother! As I got older my brother started refusing to help (as he knew I was eventually going to surpass him in fishing skills) and I had to toughen up and figure out worm to hook tactics.
When I left for college and moved away from home I started to dabble in new and exciting out door activities. I tried my hand in skeet shooting, and deer hunting and turkey hunting! I enjoyed skeet shooting because I had immediate satisfaction and could grade my success. Deer and turkey hunting took a lot more patience, waking up aggressively early and mostly I did not come home with success. However, one new activity tied my past with my present, was exciting and was a blast- scalloping. Scalloping allowed me to be outside on the water and enjoy the thrill of the hunt.
I remember one of my friends trying to explain how to scallop-“If the waters shallow enough you can just walk around and pick up the scallops off the ground and if the water isn’t shallow enough you may have to swim a little!” My immediate response was “oh so its like an underwater Easter egg hunt!” I was totally in for this new adventure! My first time we loaded up the boat with all the necessary equipment- snorkels, vests, nets, snacks and beers and we were off. Now there were no alligators to worry about- only sharks! I was not so excited about the opportunity to come face to face with a shark but I was not going to miss out on a new adventure! The water was deep enough so I had to put on a snorkel and flippers. I grabbed my net and dove in! I swam around looking for “Easter eggs” with blue eyes that you had to creep up around their back or else they would swim away. Within the first thirty minutes, to my disappointment,- I had reached my limit for the day! Luckily for me there was plenty of beer and sun for me to soak up! I was hooked on this new activity and knew I would come back for more!
The worst part of scalloping- getting the meat out of the shell! This involves a sharp spoon, a lot of patience, and a strong thumb- I lack patience and a strong thumb and I typically get bored after about ten scallops. But if you want to eat you have to help!
As a Florida girl new to the DC area, I am looking forward to exploring new activities that bring me outdoors and hopefully close to the water. I know I will always live on the water while in constant search of my next adventure!
Great story! Thanks!