(This post was written while I was living in New Hampshire. Eventually I moved back to Florida, but for a time this was only a dream.)
If I was walking along the beach today I would be looking much more intently at the treasures beneath my feet than I did twenty years ago. Shelling and beach-combing has taken on a new meaning for me now.
Going to the beach was a regular activity years ago, as I lived only thirty minutes away. I’ve never been lucky enough to live on the beach but in Florida you are always fairly close to a beach of some kind. And like so many things we get used to, we don’t appreciate it nearly enough.
In my beach-walking dream it would be low tide – and hopefully that timing would coincide with few visitors to the area so I’d have the place mostly to myself. With a stick or piece of driftwood in hand, I would check the seaweed washed up along the water line for hidden goodies caught there.
With my pants rolled up I’d shuffle through the soft sand near the surf, peering out into the water looking for signs of any sea life just off shore.
Maybe I’d find some seashells like the ones pictured, or maybe I’d find something more interesting and beautiful – like a living whelk or dried up sand dollar. I only know that I would be looking more closely knowing that it was not an activity I can do all the time any longer.
If you are walking on the beach today, enjoy every moment and happy treasure hunting!
(Photos courtesy of Pixabay.)
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Wow, how interesting. I have never thought about finding sealife in the woods! That would be something. Thanks for sharing.
There’s something so wonderful about being the only one at the beach at low tide. Those limpet shells look so big compared to the ones I find here.
Yesterday while walking along a trail in the salt marsh I found the biggest Common Northern Moon Snail shell I’ve ever come across. A seagull had likely dropped it there on the rocks but it didn’t crack and the creature inside was already dead. I’ve also found huge sea urchins near rocks in the woods, also likely dropped by a seagull after taking it from the ocean nearby. I don’t know what’s more thrilling: finding a seashell at the beach or in some unexpected place elsewhere near the seashore.