Clamming!

The other day Emily and Frederick came back from the lake they go to just about every day in Summer with something Frederick had found in the silty floor just offshore:

I did some minimal googling and discovered that freshwater clams are great at filtering water, and for that reason are very good to have in your pond.  Well, since we've had ducks, our pond is a perpetually befouled mud-puddle (and this year has gone a kind of pink color, (seen in the background of the above picture) for some reason) so I threw the clam in there to see if it could help.  Jami, however, has become obsessed with this idea and so yesterday she came along to Seven Lakes because she decided that the island in the middle would be IDEAL for clams.  So, we loaded up with our inflatable boat (to carry the clamming gear) and off we set.

 Our target:

 I was dragging the boat while Jami and Frederick forged ahead - they're the two dots in the distance.

 At the island!  As you can see, just offshore the water is shallow, clear and warm.

And here is the clammer at work.  She had immediate success: the first time she dug her hands into the sand, she came up with a clam!

...but sadly, even after Frederick and I had given her the time it took us to circumnavigate the island, that was the only one!  However, her enthusiasm is not dimmed and we will try other shores at other times.