are one of those things that evoke an immediate and unwavering response.
One either loves or hates them.
Adores or abhors.
People who know me personally would say loudly and with confidence that I would never, with intention, put a raw oyster in my mouth.
They would be sadly mistaken.
I love raw oysters.
There is something about slurping the organism and the juice around it into my mouth that takes me right over the edge of culinary ecstasy.
A delicacy that did, I freely admit, surprise me.
I was apprehensive at the thought of my first raw oyster, but I wanted adventure and, well, come on, what is more adventurous than a raw bi-valve.
I remember closing my eyes, as if that would somehow make the experience less traumatizing.
But when that sweet, salty taste co-mingled with the sharp bite of horseradish hit my tongue, I was hooked.
Joyous.
Delectable.
Intoxicating.
The fear of an immediate emetic response was eradicated and pleasurable endorphins poured in to take its place.
It is like everything else in life … don’t knock it until you try it.
If, by chance, you’re ever in the Outer Banks of NC, take highway 12 to Buxton and check out Pop’s Raw Bar.
It will, I promise, be worth it.
Those were, I say with utmost confidence, the best raw oysters to ever pass my lips.
If you go, tell Wendy that the Virginian with the suspicious Ohioan companion said “Hi”.
At last I say this … try new things.
Divert from your everyday ritual.
Fear of the unknown will keep many wonderful things from your perspective.
I know this because I lived, many years, with fear.
Now, unless it involves spiders, I give it the finger.
I still freak out at spiders.
Overcome what you can, run screaming from what you can’t.
Pretty simple when you break it down.
A Photographer's Heart 