#123058 - 02/16/04 06:12 PM
blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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From O.Henry short story "The Harbinger":
The warble of the first robin in Hackensack, the stirring of the maple sap in Bennington, the budding of the pussy willows along Main Street in Syracuse, the first chirp of the bluebird, the swan song of the Blue Point, the annual tornado in St. Louis, the plaint of the peach pessimist from Pompton, N. J., the regular visit of the tame wild goose with a broken leg to the pond near Bilgewater Junction, the base attempt of the Drug Trust to boost the price of quinine foiled in the House by Congressman Jinks, the first tall poplar struck by lightning and the usual stunned picknickers who had taken refuge, the first crack of the ice jam in the Allegheny River, the finding of a violet in its mossy bed by the correspondent at Round Corners - these are the advance signs of the burgeoning season that are wired into the wise city, while the farmer sees nothing but winter upon his dreary fields.
The Blue Point oyster was named for Blue Point, Long Island in New York, where this exceptionally fine oyster was first discovered. The name is now generally used for any medium size Atlantic oyster eaten raw.
I'm not sure what "the swan song" refers to. There are
months in which eating shellfish is hazardous because
of microscopic organisms (dinoflagellates) that are very toxic, but I think that happens only in warm water later in the year.
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#123060 - 02/16/04 06:26 PM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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Dear Fiberbabe: I remember an old saw about avoiding months
with and "R" in them, but in those days nobody knew what
caused the trouble. O.Henry is talking about a seasonal
thing, but I'm still not sure what he meant. I'm searching
for "shellfish toxicity" but have a lot more to wade through.
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#123062 - 02/16/04 07:41 PM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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To me "swan song" means goodbye, not "Hello!"
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#123063 - 02/16/04 07:48 PM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/24/02
Posts: 7186
Loc: Vermont
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right, but it's the end of the oyster season that ushers in the new season.
_________________________
formerly known as etaoin...
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#123064 - 02/16/04 07:58 PM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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Dear etaoin: Please don't tantalize me. Give the beginning and ending month of the oyster season. I should think the
oyster season might start with spring high tides, which when they go out would give better access to oyster beds,
and the arrival of hot weather mark the end, because of its
incubating the dinoflagellites. Got a better theory?
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#123065 - 02/16/04 08:05 PM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/24/02
Posts: 7186
Loc: Vermont
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well, I was only going on the paragraph itself, and what I felt it implied, however, I did find this, that I think, supports my(and fb's!) idea:
DNR Extends Oyster Season Two Weeks
Ice cover prevented watermen from working Annapolis, MD (February 18, 2000)--Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Sarah Taylor-Rogers, responding to a unanimous recommendation of the Tidal Fish Advisory Committee last night, has decided to issue a two-week extension of the commercial oyster season.
"Ice cover prevented many watermen from working for more than three weeks this winter," Secretary Taylor-Rogers said. "This two-week extension will give them an opportunity to make up for some of their losses. The State is committed to following a balanced path, ensuring a viable commercial fishery, while expanding the Bay's oyster population ten-fold over the next 10 years."
The commercial oyster season was scheduled to close on March 31, and will now remain open through April 14.
and a couple of other sites talk about a mid-fall beginning...
sounds to me like the end of oyster season welcomes in Spring.
_________________________
formerly known as etaoin...
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#123066 - 02/16/04 08:12 PM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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Dear etaoin: I goofed about the "R" business. The months
with "R" are supposed to be OK. So Spring would be the end
of the oyster season. But the oysters would be rejoicing
because of gaining respite from harvest, not singing their
own funeral dirge. The Walrus and the Carpenter would be
the ones singing the blues .
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#123069 - 02/17/04 11:25 AM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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Amateurs harvesting wild mushrooms are in same class as Japanese gourmets eating fugu. Both may die suddenly.
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#123070 - 02/17/04 08:20 PM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 09/28/00
Posts: 2888
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You're right there Bill. My sis loves to go out looking for mushrooms with her tome in hand, comparing pictures.
She never eats any though, because the the description of the poisonous mushrooms always start with "this highly poisonous varity looks exactly like the edible ..."
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#123072 - 02/17/04 08:37 PM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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I worked with a mycologist for about four years. He wouldn't eat any wild mushrooms. He knew of too many
experts who had poisoned themselves.
And I still think "swan song" was poor writing here, a mangled figure of speech at best. Maybe they should have
sung a requiem or farewell song instead.
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#123073 - 02/17/04 11:24 PM
Re: blue point
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veteran
Registered: 01/06/04
Posts: 1474
Loc: California
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And some mycophobes die from tainted chicken or beef and some in auto accidents.
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#123074 - 02/18/04 08:19 AM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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One of my central tenets is to avoid risking something big
to win something small.
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#123076 - 02/18/04 08:53 AM
Re: swan song
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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Dear of troy: The swan song was to be sung by the creature that was dying. Let us hope that the blue point oystereaters were not singing because they were about to die.
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#123077 - 02/18/04 09:32 AM
Re: blue point
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veteran
Registered: 01/06/04
Posts: 1474
Loc: California
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Not a bad tenet, Bill. I'm just saying that playing the sure bet doesn't always work. Otherwise Vegas would still be a desert truck stop.
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#123079 - 02/18/04 10:16 AM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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The hypertrophy of Vegas just proves Barnum was right.
"There's one born every minute, and two to catch him."
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#123080 - 02/24/04 06:07 AM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/11/01
Posts: 2636
Loc: Caribbean
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Dr. Bill, we all gotta die of something. I only hunt morels, which are quite unique. I don't believe there has ever been a death caused by the consumption of morels. I could be wrong, but I have a mother who knows how to worry and she has never been worried by morels. There is only one other fungus that mimics the morel in my neck of the woods. It is commonly known as a false cap and has several very obvious differences that distinguish it from the morel. One, the color isn't quite right for a morel, two, the stem of the false cap is not hollow as is the morel stem, and three, the cap of the morel is attached to the stem while the false cap floats free. Actually, the more people that are afraid of finding and eating morels, the better as far as I'm concerned. The woods are being cut down and there are fewer of my "spots" available to harvest every year. I don't want more competition in harvesting. 
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#123081 - 02/24/04 08:29 AM
Re: blue point
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
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Dear Consuelo: So long as you stick to the morels, you're
not taking an appreciable risk. The guys who got poisoned
were taking something else that had deadly look-alikes.
The guys who eat fugu are trying to prove their courage.
I'd rather be a live coward. Bill
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