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Life in a [Sea]shell

11/19/2013

16 Comments

 
PicturePlayalinda Beach Summer 2013
Several years ago, life's pace had eroded my disposition into a state of perpetual anxiety. G suggested I take a few hours each week to walk the beach with him.The beach, 20 minutes away, is part of the National Park system, and consists only of dunes and ocean. Strolling barefoot side-by-side on that first day, cool sand squishing between our toes while the ocean played its music, was powerful medicine. I brought home a few shells for visual reminders. G picked up some to put in outdoor planters.

PictureSoak, cull, dry, distribute.
Collecting shells quickly became an integral part of each beach walk. We planned our arrivals for close to low tide and identified the areas consistently offering the most treasure. We filled Crown Royal sacks with abandoned homes of clams, mussels, conch, and creatures we couldn't identify while carefully avoiding beached jellyfish. We stocked the car with buckets to dump the booty into and jugs of water to wash the sand off our feet. At home the shells were soaked in buckets before I culled a few for my indoor collections. The remaining rinsed shells went into a heap until enough had accumulated to fill in a bed around trees and potted plants. 

I'm fascinated by the shells with battle scars and missing parts, sculptures of nature full of texture hinting at encounters with predators and storms. Often, a particular type of shell will dominate the beach, as if a city of those creatures' homes was swept up and spewed out, minus its residents. Whatever kind is most prevalent on any given day changes with the tides, seasons, weather. Some days offer an abundance of ocean treasures, and sometimes we do a lot of walking for very little. In the gathering and sorting, I'm learning (or re-learning) some lessons.

PictureInside Collections
1) I can't have everything. Sometimes that beach has so many enticing sea gems, I could fill a truck! Except we don't have a truck. Or the time. Or the energy to lug them. I have to be content with what we can carry, and trust there will be more in the future.

2) Purpose matters. Early on we figured out the delicate scallop shells are not practical for outside landscaping. They can easily be blown around or broken. I might select a few pretty lightweight shells for my indoor collection, but we mostly garner those that are rugged enough to stay where we put them.

3) Lack of knowledge can be harmful. During one walk the beach was filled with sand dollars. I was entranced; usually if I found one, it was broken. I scooped up only as many as my hands could hold; I didn't want to put them into a bag where they might break. Once home, I laid them out carefully on a towel to dry. Within days, their color changed from sandy to chalky, and holes formed in the middle of each. A few minutes of internet research confirmed my horrible suspicion: I'd taken live sand dollars. And killed them. The remains of those sea martyrs are where I see them daily, silent reminders that ignorance has consequences.

PicturePerfect Shell
4) Pleasure doesn't come from what I have, but from what I do with what I have. Last spring, as we walked the beach with visiting family from Maine, a conch shell rolled in with the surf and landed at our feet. It was larger than my hand, smooth and shiny like those in seaside tourist shops. I couldn't get over its near-flawlessness, or the fact that I had seen the water give it to us. I prominently displayed it in our living room. But I knew, even before we'd left the beach that day, that I wasn't going to keep it. When we prepared for our summer road trip to New England, I stroked the silky surface of the shell a few more times, took pictures that fall short of capturing its beauty, then carefully packed it for transport to its new home in the north. It was such fun to give it as a gift to someone who had witnessed its release from the sea, and would value it for that experience as much as its perfection. 

G and I continue to harvest shells from our local beach. We also have several small indoor collections of sea souveniers gathered during recent travels. Regardless of where each shell comes from, or where at our home each now resides, each made the journey from seaside to home in our hands, bags, buckets, and vehicle. Together they're forming a sea quilt of moments worth remembering.

16 Comments
Sharon
11/19/2013 12:36:47 pm

Jim has begun taking me to Playlinda when I become antsy, anxious, and angry. We walk the beach, breathe in the salt air, catch sight of Wright(sic) Whales passing by, either north or south, depending on the time of year.
Having been born under the sign of Pieces, the ocean is the only connection that brings me back to myself it seems. I know I am a Hula Girl at heart and by birth, but I am also a little mermaid who needs to go home to the sea to claim her soul on a weekly basis.

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Shel Harrington link
11/20/2013 10:47:48 am

I'm so jealous, Sharon, of your ability to go to Playlinda on a regular basis. It's one of my all-time favorite places. The few times I went to Titusville to visit my folks and sister and DIDN"T get to go hang out there for a bit I felt like I had missed seeing one of my family members.

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Natine
11/20/2013 12:32:21 am

Awwwww, Sharon. That's poetic! There's no denying that water has the power to soothe, is there? :)

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Connie
11/20/2013 03:47:59 am

Sweet moments of reflection. You make me long for a beach walk with you!

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Natine
11/20/2013 04:35:19 am

ANY time, Connie!! :)

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Shel Harrington link
11/20/2013 10:44:09 am

That is definitely my kind of quilt - love it!

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Natine
11/20/2013 10:53:15 am

I know it is, Sis. And you are there with me in spirit on every walk. :)

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Dee Dee Chumley link
11/20/2013 10:46:08 am

Do you have any idea of how jealous I am?!! I'm constantly wondering how a beach bum at heart like me ended up in land-locked Oklahoma. I love your lessons from the sea.

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Natine
11/20/2013 10:55:00 am

Thank you, Dee Dee! You may not have the beach, but you have beautiful gardens - a talent I can only admire in others since it was not gifted to me. I'll go visit your garden and you can come visit "our" ocean! :)

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Sharon
11/20/2013 11:28:31 am

I have turned down many jobs in land locked states because I have to, need to be near the ocean. Even though I don't live near it, I have to know it is close by.

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Cheryl
11/20/2013 10:02:35 pm

lovely, couldn't have said it better.....

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Natine
11/21/2013 02:14:53 am

Thank you, my friend! :)

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Jill W link
11/21/2013 01:26:54 am

How fortunate you are to live close to the ocean, Natine. It's my favorite place. I know what you mean about filling a truck with all of the beautiful shells. I want them all! :) Great post!

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Natine
11/21/2013 02:16:52 am

Thanks, Jill! (From the pictures of your yard, you've created a lot of soothing beauty right outside your windows!)

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Jill W link
11/21/2013 02:41:37 am

Thanks! I can't take the credit, but I'll certainly pass along your kind words.

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