Oysterville Shell Pile

I’m devastated to report that the Oyster Shell Telegraph, my laudatory topic of a few days past, has apparently broken down. Not only has the house next door not sold, but the moving van that apparently prompted all the speculation was simply transferring a few more of owner Mark’s belongings from Portland to Oysterville. In fact, there is no news at all to report from that quarter.

I spoke with Mark, himself, through the rhododendrons that run along our fence line. I was on my way out to lock up the chickens and through the gloaming I spied Mark’s handsome white head. So I hailed him and asked him straight out: “Did your house sell?”

The Village

He was very forthcoming about the intricacies of his joint ownership of the house, the problems entailed with selling, and the work he has put into needed repairs. Not only has the house not sold, but it has now become the primary residence for himself and his family. Straight from the horse’s mouth!

Obviously a wire or two – if the Oyster Shell Telegraph actually has wires – has become disconnected. It is one of the few times in my experience that there hasn’t been at least a vestige of truth to the village gossip. It’s just hard to know what to count on these days!

Our Neighborhood

As I reviewed the recent ‘gospel’ about the Hampson House and how we got our information, I realized that the primary source was not even an Oysterville resident, but a worker-bee who was, perhaps, only privy to snatches of conversations. Add to that a good dollop of wishful thinking and speculation and voilà! An entirely fanciful scenario.

The unspoken rule of the Oyster Shell Telegraph, of course, is that the initial source of ‘news’ needs to come from the primary subject. That there might be changes along the way – as in the children’s game of Telephone – is understood. But those sort of tweaks are traditionally minimal and the basic truth of the ‘news’ is usually reliable.

So we are back to “consider the source” when weighing the efficacy of the word on the street. As with other communication methods, messages on Oyster Shell telegraph need to emanate from the horse’s mouth which is a rule that shouldn’t be too difficult to follow in a village the size of Oysterville… Or so one would think.