Seashells

Yesterday, we took Scout to run free at the beach in Del Mar where she first experienced the ocean as a puppy. While David and Scout played ball at the ocean's edge, I walked barefoot and automatically began looking for seashells, which is something I have done all my life. I saw three perfectly shaped sand dollars that were still alive. To a shell seeker, sand dollars are quite a find. The one pictured here is probably 20 years old. I found it in Del Mar when I first arrived in San Diego. Then, I realized that most of the shells pictured here, I have had my whole life. That means some of them could be over 40 years old! My father's beautiful hand picked some of these. They are from Cape Cod, Misquamicut Beach, Kittery, Old Saybrook, and a secluded beach on the Sea of Cortez. How amazing that every time I've moved (and I've moved a fair amount!), I have always brought them with me. They are my jewels, each one reminding me of where I have come from and where I have been.