Apalachicola

Sunday, November 1

Apalachicola

When we used to drive around the state, on summer vacation,
my dad knew the chief-cook-and-bottle-washer in every town,
from going to the University of Florida. He knew the judge,
the pharmacist, the doctor, the lawyer, the dentist. Then they were all
in real estate, or state politics. The legislature. Looking out for
their business interests. One night at the supper table I asked him
how many mortgages he foreclosed on that day, on the board of
First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Delray Beach.
Thoreau said if he repented of anything, it was of his good behavior.
I like Apalachicola oysters. In the winter they are fat and salty.
The Fish and Wildlife Service--or the Food and Drug Administration--
wants to shut down the fishery in the summer months, because some people die
every year from eating oysters and the deaths would be preventable.
Just don't sell them. Could you gather them yourself, or would that be
against the law, too? In months that haven't any r, make love less
and drink more. Huh? Aux mois qui n'ont pas d'r, peu embrasser
et bien boire
. Could that be right? I don't remember.
I need a bilingual fact-checker.
Who gathers his own oysters?
I don't, but my boys do.


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