Clammy

From Quagmire to Quahog

A “dragon” in the clouds above St. George Island, Florida

Secret Aging Man (SAM—my name for hubby on social media since the old blogging days—I’ll explain later) and I were fortunate (blessed?) enough to celebrate 43 years of marriage this past weekend with a trip to St. George Island in Florida. It’s not our favorite beachy place, but it’s quieter than most and gave SAM and me a rare chance to unwind the fishing line as well as the mind.

Unbeknownst to us at the time, there was a very special clam being released back to the Gulf from a marine lab in Panacea, which is not far from St. George Island but across the bay. This clam, believed to be at least 200 years old, was discovered by a young man digging in the sand for a meal at Alligator Point on Presidents’ Day weekend. The young man, who volunteers at the aforementioned marine lab, knew that he couldn’t eat such a wonderful specimen and let the lab folks study it before finally releasing it last Friday. He named the sea critter—a quahog clam—Aber-clam Lincoln because of its discovery on Presidents’ Day weekend as well as the probability that it was born about the same time as President Lincoln. We passed by the lab on our way to the island and talked about stopping there for a brief visit but decided not to since we were eager to unwind the old fishing line and the old minds.

With regard to quagmire, SAM barely managed to extricate himself from a mucky spot bayside at low tide while trying to cast his line out farther, and I managed to snicker a bit before snapping the photo of a cloud that looks quite like a dragon. What do you think? How appropriate, I thought, to see such a cloud floating high above St. George Island. If you’re not familiar with the legend of St. George, feel free to look him up on stgeorgessociety.org. Here’s a snippet that I thought went hand in hand with our need to unwind the old minds as well as the fishing line:

“St. George stands for the courage to face adversity in order to defend the innocent. The triumph of good over evil, through courage. …The king who adopted him might be almost forgotten today, but for centuries Saint George represented the idea of courageous leadership and, with it, the unifying popular will to be governed well and protected.”

And why would anyone object to the idea of courageous leadership and being unified with the popular will to be governed well and protected? I can think of a few people who might be fit for such a task—future President, perhaps? The current governor of Florida, for one, comes to mind. His name, after all, derives from the Latin Sanctus, a hymn in Christian liturgy, which is referred to as the Epinikios hymnos or hymn of victory.

Remember I said that I would explain my name for hubby—Secret Aging Man? Here on my old blog is the explanation. I hope I haven’t stepped into another quagmire by posting it. :)