Live a Little

We went clam digging today.

This is really exciting for me. Clam digging is an activity I have enjoyed my whole life...until the hernias came. I think I've only done it two or three times in the past seven years.

I awoke this morning to hear my oldest moving around. She came to my room and asked me if we were going to go. I had been tossing the idea back and forth. I didn't want to end up feeling a lot of pain from going, but I wanted to go so badly. I decided it was worth it.

We roused the rest of the kids, got them dressed, threw a smoothie into mason jars, and headed out the door. Five kids from bed to car in 35 minutes is pretty impressive, I think.

I was giddy as I drove down the highway. We all chatted excitedly the whole 1.5 hours it took to get to our destination. When we got to the bay it started sprinkling. We headed out towards the flats anyway and, miraculously, the rain stopped. We were late getting there, but we were blessed and got all of our limits out of the first spot we chose to dig. 

It was hard work, especially when the baby wanted to nurse and I had to dig one handed while feeding him in the Ergo, but we had a blast. We found lots of little sea creatures to look at and a few really neat fossils. The kids did amazing, especially considering that we haven't done it in so long, and though it was hard for him, the 4-year-old even packed his own clams off the beach like a champ. 

We picked up some ice cream cones from a drive through and headed home to clean the clams. That was quite a chore and took longer than it had taken to dig the clams, but we got to have fresh clam chowder for dinner afterwards. It was so good! And we stored up enough clams in the freezer for three more batches.

Considering the price of gas, it may have been cheaper to just buy canned clams. It surely would have been easier. But the memories we made today were priceless.

I may be hurting from all this tomorrow, or I may be no worse than I have been, only time will tell. But I do know one thing: it really was worth it. 

Is there something you have really been wanting to do, mama? Maybe something has been holding you back? I want to encourage you to go for it.

Because life is short. Life is a gift. Get out and enjoy it. Don't be like me and let fear hold you back.

Much love,

Lee