UNEXPECTED FINDS!

I’ve spent most of the day recouping from chemo treatment #6 last week.  This one is taking a little longer to release its grip on me, but that’s not unusual.  Chemo is cumulative as well as deadly, unpredictable, and a general pain in the tush.  But each day gets better and living is definitely worth the effort. 

 

I’ve been rehashing some unexpected things that have come up in my life recently.  It’s funny how you can go along day after day and often not notice the little bumps that weren’t there the day before – the very slight tilt to the day that often has far reaching ripples.  This beachside condo living is a new lifestyle for us –and the upcoming sale of our home of 19 years has probably brought on this thought process.  It’s made me very aware of my surroundings and the wonderful, if slight, changes that can easily go unnoticed.

Sometimes it’s nothing more than an unusual assortment of shells on the beach.  The seasons and the tides and the phases of the moon all play a part in the life forms present on our beach on any given day.  The other day, we found lots of sand dollars – mostly in pieces – but they had been absent for months.  We did find one that was about ¾ whole.  My daughter tells me that amounts to about 75 cents worth (of a sand dollar).  Have I mentioned our family’s strange sense of humor?  If you’ve read my posts before, I’m sure that was not an “unexpected find” for you!

 

The shells of razor clams were also abundant, and I haven’t seen them in ages.  They’re oddly similar to VERY long fingernails, often with subtle shadings that look a lot like nail art.  They’re not very popular with shell collectors, but I find them strangely beautiful.  I know – weird! 

The thing we most enjoyed that day was the return of the lettered olives.  They are beautiful cylindrical gastropods with a glossy shell and a small pointed spire on the top.  Later in the season, we find the shells washed up on the sand, empty, but magnificent with a highly polished finish.  They have most likely succumbed to a hungry Willet or Turnstone.  Right now, though, they are everywhere, burrowing through the sand, making deep gouges at the shoreline with their large foot (right, a foot!) scavenging for coquina clams in the surf zone.  I’ve watched a few amateur shellers pick up the live creatures and add them to their bag of souvenirs.  It’s easy to do – when you touch them, their body mantle and large foot retract deep into their thick protective, gorgeous shell.  Little do they know that they are very much alive – at least at that point – and will die a very smelly death in their carryon luggage.

We have a friend whose mother doesn’t understand the appeal of the ocean.  She feels that it’s boring and monotonous.  We couldn’t be of a more opposing opinion.  It’s a living, evolving, ever-changing – and to me, healing – environment.  Every day brings something new to marvel at – something life-affirming and renewing.  There’s a saying that goes “Some people find more in a walk on the beach than others find on a trip around the world.”  That’s definitely us!  This new beach lifestyle has truly become one of our most Unexpected Finds!

tyG4e

SURVIVAL  TIPS –  Life is so precious – try to pay attention to the slight shifts and sways in your days.  With or without cancer, life goes by too quickly.  Look around you and find the unexpected!