It’s a Dylan day. You and I should go to Santa Barbara and get a bucket of clams tomorrow. What do you say, boy?

Lyric by We Are Augustines: “Soak your scars in the ocean”

When Dylan was about three, he and I had a food adventure. Donna was at work, and Dylan and I went to the grocery store. We were looking around and I found that Cherrystone clams were on sale. I liked clams, but never had these before. They were huge, and I misjudged how many to buy. I got some butter and garlic along with the clams, and made our way home to the shitty apartment Dylan spent his first years in.

When we got home, I prepared them. Again, something I had never done. I used the biggest pot I could find, because I quickly realized that I had a lot. Threw some butter and garlic in the boiling water, and then put as many of the clams in the pot as I could fit. The whole time egging Dylan on. “Are you hungry? Want some clams?” To which, he said over and over “yes.” He never wavered. In a few minutes, I started fishing the clams out of the hot water and putting them on a plate. I sat Dylan up on the counter next to plate, and asked him again whether he wanted some clams. He answered yes. So, I made sure they tasted all right, and then dug one out of its shell and right into Dylan’s mouth.

“Do you like it?”
“Yes”
“Do you want another one?”
“Yes”

And on it went, until he and I finally realized that we had had enough Cherrystone clams for the rest of our lives.

We ate clams again, but not those giant Cherrystone clams. And I’m okay with that being our thing we did 18 years ago.