A WALK ON THE BEACH

A WALK ON THE BEACH

 Kev and I love to get up and go walk on the beach. He loves to go real early and get pictures of the sunrise. Since the salt air isn't really good for electronics, he will come back and get me and leave the camera in the room. We still take our cell phones to capture pictures during the day. One morning we got up early and went to the beach. It was overcast but the ocean is always beautiful. We started looking for Sharks' teeth and shells. Immediately,  I found a shark's tooth and then a second. We had never seen it when the shore had so many of them.

Kev asked me, "Did this really start by you sitting on the beach as a child." I told him,"Yes it did." My mom and dad love the beach. We would drive from Hamlet to Myrtle Beach stay a little while and then go home. With five kids we weren't allowed to go too far. Mom would pick out a building in each direction as our boundaries.

Large area of shells

I've never liked to just sit or lay in the sun, so mom would say "See if y'all can find any shark's teeth or pretty shells." We would sit in one of those large areas of shells and the search was on. I've always had a nack for finding shark's teeth but shells are also awesome. We don't just pick up perfect shells. The shell doesn't have to be in "perfect" condition to be beautiful to us. We pick up broken ones, pieces of shells, whatever catches our eye. We even have one we call "the bottle cap shell". I tell the kids that visit, "It has to be a shell. We found it on the beach and since you're not supposed to throw trash on the beach, it has to be a shell, right?" Needless to say I get some strange looks from them.

Shark's teeth

The love of looking for shark's teeth and shells has never stopped. A few years ago, we hit the jackpot! We found about 60 shark's teeth. We taught several kids along the beach to find them. As we walked a little way from one of the families, we heard, "Mom, I found one." I believe a new tradition was born in that family.


Leave your electronics in the room and explore the shore!

I put our shells in baskets, bowls, jars, shadow boxes, etc. We have them sitting around the house. The name of the beach is displayed on one of those name tag holders (made for a table) shaped like shells. This reminds us during the year of when we were there and the fun we had.

If your kids want a souvenir but you don't have alot of extra cash after paying for a trip to the beach, collect shells and make a memory. You don't have to dust memories.

I was told once from a family that also loves shells that they have a large clear container at their home. Each time they come home from the beach they put their new shells in the container. I like that idea. I think I would put a label either inside the cylinder or on a label on the outside, with the Beach's name and the date of the trip. And I think the child(ren)'s favorite shells should be next to the side so they can see them. That way when someone comes over or just at random times they can say, "That's the shell I found".

Memories are just moments in time. We don't remember whole days or weeks. We remember moments.

Have A Blessed Day!
Mama D

Psalm 97:1
The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.