Thursday, April 6, 2017

Day 1-6 Survivor Diet Challenge 2017 has begun

For anyone reading this log, I have been neglectful in my writing and reporting for some time now.  I have successfully completed the SDC every year since the start and now I am in the first week of the adventure in 2017.  I did not document at all in 2016 and most of 2015.
Interestingly, I went back to review some old posts and saw that some folks had, in fact, made comments on some of my entries.  I thought no one out there was reading.  Now that I see there is some interest, I will try to stay up to date.

I started this year on April 1st which is the earliest I have ever started the SDC.  The weather is still cold and drippy and we're not ruling out the possibility of snow.  This will be a challenge for sure.

The month of April is prime time for clams and hopefully trout. These will be my primary sources for protein.  This should be no surprise if you have read any prior year SDC log entries.  The significant difference that I have noticed is in my ability to find clams.  It's almost comical when I look back to the first few seasons.

Last year and this year I have become quite the experienced clam digger.  Now I have very reliable spots for hard shell clams of all sizes (little neck, cherry-stone, quahog, etc), long-neck or steamer clams (of all sizes) and new to this year I have started finding a decent amount of East coast razor clams - which are my favorite.  Having such a variety allows me to utilize clams for many meals without getting tired of them.  Well, I shouldn't really say that right now should I?  I always seem to get tired of them after about a month.

It seems like I would get tired of eating just about ANYTHING after eating it every day for an extended amount of time.  This is something that really separates humans from other animals.  My pets, for instance, eat the same bowl of the same food day after day after day.  They just don't seem to mind - or maybe they just can't communicate it to us that they want something different.  I don't know for sure but the dog seems to eat just about anything you throw her way without even tasting it.  People need variety.