Editor’s Note: See all the Spring Clampout photos in the Gimlet Gallery. Anybody want to come over for some clam chowder?
The Gimlet’s note: This weekend we took the scouts to Copalis Beach and dug for razor clams. Thing Two got to go! The excited three year old along with the three excited 11 year olds made for an enjoyable trip. Everybody was able to get their limit of 15 razor clams. Afterward, the 11 year old scouts cooked breakfast of sausage (pre-cooked, we want to be safe) and eggs. 
Then we cleaned the clams.
Thing Two loved everything except the rising tide. A wave got water in his boots and he cried every time the water got too close, which was most of the time. At the time it was annoying but now it is a happy memory. We walked back to the campsite and Thing Two insisted on carrying his clams. He particularly liked sleeping in the tent with Daddy on one side and Thing One on the other.
Thing One’s report: Last Friday my dad, brother and some of the scout troop went on a campout catching clams, which I called a ‘Clampout’. After school, we went on a 3-hour drive to a little town called Aberdeen where we had dinner at Pizza Hut and waited for other people to show up. By this time it was night. When we got to the beach we set up tents, made a fire and 
roasted marshmallows. An adult showed us a green laser pointer, which made a line unlike red laser pointers because of green’s higher frequency. I knew this because in science at school, I have been learning about light and the color spectrum. Then at about 11:00, everybody went to bed.
The next day, at 7:00 am when the tide was low, Thing Two, the Gimlet and I flew a kite for a little while. After that, everybody took some clam guns and went to the beach. Clam guns are tubes that have one open end and another closed end with a small hole and handle on it. If you see a hole in the ground and water comes up when you step near it, that is a razor clam. Then you put the open end of the tube directly and straight on the hole. You then make it go down until you either hit something or can’t go further. Then you put your finger on the small hole and pull the tube up. Razor clams have a head, the shell and a foot and can stay alive out of the water for a while, so they’re alive until they’re boiled. We came to the beach when the tide was starting to come in, and Thing Two was standing by the shore. The tide came in over his knees and some water got inside his boots, so he started to cry, and since that, whenever the tide came in again, he would start crying again.
When we got back, we cleaned the sand off the clams. When water was squirted on them, they would move their foot because they thought they were in the ocean again. We put them in water to boil, and one person found a crab less than a centimeter around by a clam. When boiled, the clam’s shells popped off, so the clam was cleaned. Then, we put the clam meat in bags. The 11 
year olds who went made the late breakfast. After the tents and things were put away, we of course washed the truck bed where the clams were gutted, and we went on the 3 hour drive back, which was not as slow because traffic was OK. Then, after getting all the stuff home, I wrote this article.
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May’s wallpaper is available for download from Solitary Elegance. This month’s fashions are an 1809 ball dress (on the left) and an 1810 promenade dress (on the right). The elaborate background is derived from an embroidery pattern featured in an 1812 edition of Ackermann’s Repository.
