Today’s mess is crabs or rather the messy process of transformation in picking crabs.. If you’re from Maryland you know what I mean. Picking crabs a messy process of transformation. If you’re not, perhaps you’ve visited or enjoyed a delicious crab cake from a fancy up-scale restaurant. Maryland Blue Crabs are a delicacy, but if you’ve ever picked one, you know that they are also a big fat mess. We are on the cusp of summer and that means crabs are in season.
Summer Vibes
In order to properly pick a crab, one must first cover the table in multiple layers of brown paper or old newspapers. No bare tables or fancy tablecloths, because picking a crab means removing the guts that are hidden beneath the hard red shell. Home cooked crabs means the aromas of vinegar, Old Bay, and J.O. Crab seasoning fills the air as billows of steam roll from the pot. Once in the pot, the pinch-y blue crabs endure the messy process of transformation and turn red.
Knockers and knives bang as they crush through claws. Eager fingers pry open the apron of the crab to reveal the delicious meat. Knives are the greatest tool as you carefully crack open each individual cavity that contains a delectable little morsel. First the luscious jumbo lump crab meat, then the just as tasty, but less satisfying body meat. All of this work is meticulously repeated until, finally the appetite for crabs is satiated. At least an hour, if not more later.
Participating in this messy process ensures you won’t be able to touch anything other than the crabs you are eating. Lest you are willing to get the red spicy residue all over your cup or shirt. A paper towel just won’t do. Only soap and water removes the mess of crabs. Even then the smell lingers on your fingers long after you have washed them. My grandmother always told me to scrub them with lemon juice to get rid of the smell fully. Sometimes the messy proccess of transformation requires new agents or even meticulous actions. I have very specific memories of carefully cleaning out spice from under each finger nail with a toothpick.
Why would someone willing go through the messy process of picking crabs?
Crab meat is available right at the store. Delicious, slightly expensive crab cakes can be ordered and eaten. No carrying around the smell of crabs for days or participating in ritualistic cleanings. Instead of spending hours carefully picking through guts and juices for miniscule morsels, people can devour up to 4 crabs in as little as 4 minutes. Maybe longer than 4 minutes if they don’t inhale a crab cake sandwiches like I do. A succulent, delicious crab cake sandwich that someone created for you through the messy process of transformation.
So what drives Marylanders to engage in this messy process? I reflected on my whys while driving home from our local crabhouse. My husband and I took our daughters there for dinner. They took part in picking through the guts to get the glorious pieces of meat. Even our youngest, a notoriously picky eater, decided this season that she LOVED crab meat. It brightened our day and instilled pride that she cracked a shell all on her own. She willingly ate what our oldest knows to be pure gold…the backfin meat.
Family Tradition: Patience
Eating crabs has always been a part of my family tradition. My late grandfather and uncle made their living by being watermen. They crabbed, fished, and oystered their way through the seasons to support their families. They endured so much and transformed a messy process into something profitable. Summer time always meant sitting around a table outside and enjoying not only the crabs, but the fellowship that came from slowly picking our way through. I realized today that even though we don’t catch our own crabs as a family, we are still practicing the tradition of slow fellowship and grounding when we eat crabs together. The knowledge of crabbing has always been a part of our family, but I fully intend to get my girls to learn more about it too.
There is no way to rush through eating crabs and actually do it right; Marylanders pride themselves on eating crabs the right way. Crabhouses even lay out paper-printed placemats to instruct newcomers on the right way to eat crabs. So, while the tasty meat is delicious, perhaps it is more the slow ritual that has Marylanders coming back again and again to this messy process of transformation.
Worth the Mess
It made me realize that some things are worth the mess. Not all messes are something unwelcome. Every mess is not something that needs to be worked through.. Sometimes we choose to engage in the mess because we know deep down that we will find fulfillment on the other side. Teaching my girls the proper way to pick crabs instills in me a certain sense of accomplishment. I am passing down the lessons of my heritage. Lessons that I know they will pass down to their children. Along with the stories of their great grandfather who made his living being a waterman.
What other messes are worth it? How can we reframe our brains to not just deal with messes but intentionally walk into them?
So, wonderful woman, what messy process of transformation can you intentionally embrace because you know on the other side, after washing your hands with lemon juice, it will be worth it?
Your Messy Process of Transformation
For you, maybe the messy process is the sweat drenched shirt and achy muscles after a long run. You run through that messy process of transformation because you know on the other side, after a shower, you will feel stronger and somehow lighter.
Maybe the messy process is wet hair and tacky sunblock skin after you plunge into the pool on a hot summer’s day. You jump into the messy process of transformation because you know that swimming makes you feel alive.
Maybe the messy process is the painful walk home from the beach with sand in every crevice imaginable. You endure this messy process of transformation because the memories you built that day will carry you through the long winter months.
Maybe, for you, the messy process is the sweaty palm inducing process of reaching out to a new friend because you know that a deeper connection will fill your cup.
Or perhaps, just maybe the messy process is the vulnerability you face trying something new to pursue. You engage in this messy process of transformation because your passion is missing from your life.
What messy process of life are you willing to walk through to brighten your day or perhaps even improve your life?
Leave a Reply