Memories of Pismo Beach / Min Yuja
An article in the morning newspaper took me back half a century.
ABC News reported, ‘Last November, Fresno resident Charlotte Ruth visited Pismo Beach with her five children and received a fine of $88,993.’ Pismo Beach is a beach on the Pacific coast 150 miles north of Los Angeles. It is famous for clams growing on the vast white sand beach.
In the early days of immigration, my family and our two elementary school children went on a weekend vacation to Pispovich. At the time, I didn’t even know it was a famous place for clams. I just looked at the map, marked the dots, and went. Korean summers are accustomed to frequent rain. When I came to LA, it was amazing to be greeted by bright, clear skies every day. When I arrived at Pismo Beach, I saw an endless white sandy beach running along with the blue sea, and the clear blue sky burst the dam in my heart. It cooled my heart, which was shrinking from fear of an unfamiliar land.
As we set up the tent, laid out the seats, and set up the beach umbrellas, two children who had gone to the beach came holding out a bunch of seashells.
‘The day I went was a big market day.’ If I stood up straight, twisted my heel with one foot, and dug into the wet sand, I easily found a clam. It was amazing. I was just so excited.
I was excitedly picking up clams as if I was on a treasure hunt, and when I noticed people were holding shovels. When I asked, I was told that shovels were being sold at a nearby market. The shovel has a measuring stick attached to it to measure the size of the clam. To collect clams, clams must exceed 4.5 inches in size. When I found something as big as my palm, I cried out in joy and measured it, only to find that it was a quarter of an inch short. All other games were worthless. The children were so excited that they dug so hard that by the end of the year, they had collected 20 pieces that passed the test. Since the clams are large and meaty, they are plentiful.
The experience of encountering an unexpected windfall has become something I will always talk about happily. A few years later, my older sister immigrated. My sister, who listened to my story with interest, went to Pismo Beach with her nephew’s family in the summer. And then he called me. “We’re at Pismo Beach and I’m not sure if it’s the place you’re talking about! “But there aren’t any clams here!”
After asking in detail, I found out that it was definitely Pismovitch. What happened? I had a hard time believing my sister when she said there weren’t any clams. Where have all the clams that filled that wide expanse gone? Likewise, it must have been difficult for my sister to believe what I was talking about at the time.
The moon also waxes and wanes. It is the law of nature. What I found out later was that a flock of otter skins had been eating those clams. It is said that clams appear in abundance every ten years or so and then disappear. Likewise, the same can be said for otter skin. As the hyperbolas of the food chain intersect, population numbers wax and wane. It is an amazing law of nature.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife DFW enforces strict regulations to protect shellfish. Ruth’s children excitedly collected 72 clams and received tickets from the enforcement team. After receiving a huge fine notice in the mail, Ruth’s family couldn’t help but be shocked. The San Luispo County court later accepted the Ruth family’s petition and reduced the fine to $500.
Perhaps humans are born with infinite greed that is difficult to control. That too is a natural phenomenon. If humanity does not make efforts to protect nature and senselessly destroys the Earth, humans will ultimately face the catastrophe of self-destruction. We have a duty to be willing to accept the effort to manage this wisely and discerningly. It should be seen that one is entitled to enjoy nature within that scope.
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