I go to the beach as often as I can and when I am there I love to go shelling. My sister-in-law loves to go shelling even more than I do. Between us, we have a massive collection of shells. We have both learned to clean, organize and store our shells by types. I bought a bunch of plastic boxes and I have mine sorted by type in each of the boxes. Linda has her containers labeled, and if I am not mistaken, has them stored in alphabetical order! I haven't gone quite that far.....yet....but my brother-in-law did put a shelf and some cabinets in my garage which is now my "official" Shell Station!
Shells are great to simply display, as they are really beautiful to look at. And for those of us who love the beach, it is like bringing a little bit of the shore inside our homes. Locating just the perfect jar to display a certain type of shell is always a great "find".....almost, but not quite, as thrilling as finding the perfect shells on the beach to put in the jars. Nice bowls are also a great way to display the shells.
In addition to the sheer enjoyment of looking for the shells on the beach, Linda and I love to make crafts out of our wonderful collections. We have made everything from Christmas trees, to frames, mirrors, ornaments, boxes, and even bridge tallies! Crafting with shells has endless possibilities.
My son, Joseph, lives in Tennessee and has always been more fond of the mountains than the beach. However, the last time he came to visit I took him shelling with me on Honeymoon Island. I think he got bit by the bug and he realized that is was just like a treasure hunt! It tickled me to hear him call me over to show me something he had found. It felt like he was an excited little boy again....not a 32 year old man! He, being an artist himself, noticed the perfect markings, spirals, and truly the sheer beauty of the shells.
Not only are the shells beautiful, but I was marveling to Linda, as we were busy making crafts out of our shells, about how amazing it is to realize that all of these different creatures live in the shells out in the ocean. It really is impressive and just one more reminder of the vastness of God's creations.
Mom never has been one to make arts and crafts, but she spent the day watching Linda and I create lovely refrigerator magnets out of coquina shells. The magnets look like delicate water lilies and if I must say so myself, they turned out quite nicely. Mom wasn't interested in making any as she felt she didn't have the patience nor the nimble fingers, but I did give her two to take home. I think she kept one and gave one to her neighbor. Mom was fascinated by what we were doing, and it seemed she was genuinely interested in seeing how we spend our "craft days."
This particular craft day brought a lot of laughter to us. I got out my hot glue gun to make the magnets and I was asking Mom if she could imagine whatever happened to the glue gun I gave Martha for Christmas one year. I can still see Martha's face as she opened the gift. At first, I'm not sure she even knew what it was, and then she asked me what in the world made me get that for her! Obviously, she was not excited about that gift. I told her that she now had a child who was busy in school and that no mother could get by without a hot glue gun. I was sure she'd need it to make something Porter might need for school, a party, a play or some other activity he might be involved in. Again, she laughed and told me I was crazy!
Porter called me several months later to ask about how to use the glue gun because his mother didn't know how. There was something he wanted to use it for and so he had to ask me for instructions. He admitted then that it had never been opened.
I am wondering if that hot glue gun in still in the package....?
I was thinking about the different shells and how Linda and I call them by name all the time and we talk about what we are going to make out of what kind of shell. I know we use common names for them and not the real scientific names, but I love that we are able to not only distinguish the different shells, but we know how to communicate and call them by name. We have some "nicknames" for certain shells. For instance, we call auger shells 'drills,' and we easily throw around names like slippers, jingles, scallops, whelks, conchs, and turbans.
Coquinas are not very common at Honeymoon Island where I normally go to shell. However, I remember finding lots of them at Myrtle Beach with Martha. Linda found the ones we used to make our magnets at her Mom's place in Bradenton. It sparked an interest in me about the different shells, their names, and how they seem to be indigenous to certain areas.
Wikipedia says that the Donax species has various common names in different parts of the world. It is known in Florida under the Spanish word 'coquina.' It is the common and colorful Donax species of the southern Atlantic and Gulf Shores from Virginia to the Caribbean. This species in locally abundant on beaches with fine sand.
Even though they aren't terribly common on Honeymoon Island, I am sure I will be keeping my eye out for them now that I have a craft use for them! They will become another treasure that I can look for.
As I was packing up Mom's house getting ready for the move to Florida, one thing I left behind was a big bowl of seashells that she kept on her kitchen counter. I am going to get it next time I go back. I didn't pack it because I didn't know if we really needed to transport a big bowl of shells when I have a garage full! Had I not forgotten that Martha had collected those shells and put them in the bowl for Mom many years ago, I certainly would have never left them behind. I want to put that bowl of shells next to a similar big bowl of shells I have in my den on the coffee table. They can serve as a reminder of Martha. Martha loved the beach and shells too. That is one more thing we had in common.
I have many memories of Martha and the beach. One of the not-so-pleasant memories was from many, many years ago. I find it funny now, but at the time I am sure I wasn't laughing! Our family occasionally vacationed in the Myrtle Beach area in the summer. One year we rented a place and it had two bedrooms. Mom and Dad had one bedroom and Martha and I had the other. Unfortunately, there was only one big bed in the room. Martha made a huge stink about having to share the bed with me. She said I wiggled around too much and hogged the covers and she didn't want to sleep with me. Of course, it hurt my feelings terribly because I idolized my big sister and I did not like that she felt that way. I would have gladly shared the bed with her. Well, since we couldn't magically make another bed appear and Martha was intent on making her point, she chose to sleep on the floor instead of sharing the bed with me! Talk about adding insult to injury.
I am sure we quickly made up, as we never argued or stayed mad at one another. The next day we had a great time on the beach....probably looking for shells together!
As adults, some of our great late night talks were in Martha's condo at North Myrtle Beach. We would get the kids to bed and sit out on her balcony and listen to the surf and talk for hours. One particular time I remember the entire night we discussed the various Broadway plays we had seen....together or on trips we had taken separately. Theater. That's one more thing we both loved. Of course, that could be a whole other long story!
Other late night balcony discussions were about books we had read or wanted to read, the trials and tribulations of raising children, childhood memories of our own, our parents, our friends, recipes and entertaining. One thing is for sure, we never ran out of things to talk about. There is something about talking to your sister that is so different than talking to anyone else. No one shares the same commonality as sisters. There are things you can talk to your sister about that no one else could possibly understand.
Martha and I used to love to sit on the beach and read, talk, or sometimes even snooze. Of course, one of us had to stay awake to keep an eye on the kids! We loved to go out to eat and shop at Barefoot Landing. I can remember quite a few meals at Hamburger Joe's.....world's greatest burgers and world's greatest wings! Good times. I am going to miss them. I feel blessed with the memories, though. I like to remember Martha and me enjoying our moments. We always did have fun when we were together.
It's interesting that Mom has no interest in the shore, the water, the sun or any of those "beachy" things that Martha and I loved so much. I was thinking about that as I packed up her house and realized that the bowl of shells was the only thing that even resembled anything coastal! But it was special that she kept the bowl of shells in her kitchen all those years. I guess she cherished anything that Martha gave her and liked having them there as a reminder of who gave her the gift. Mom might like to keep them in her kitchen at Stratford Court for awhile. Not only does Mom have a new appreciation for shells, she would love to have them because they are from Martha. I have plenty of shells in my house, but not ones that my dear sister collected. I don't ever want to lose sight of that bowl of shells once it is back in our presence.
We learn as kids to pick up a conch shell and put it up to our ear so that we can "hear the ocean." It's hard not to do that now whenever I find one of these shells. I guess we not only hear the ocean in the shells, but the shells can be so many things to us. They can be the source of inspiration for a craft project. They can catch the eye of an artist. They can be the reward for a day of 'treasure hunting' on the beach. They can serve as decoration for our homes. They can be a reminder of some really great times spent with special people. And they can be a symbol for someone who is near and dear to our hearts.
A bowl of shells. A craft day. A walk on the beach. Refrigerator magnets. Shelling with your son. Showing your mom how to make a craft.
Who would think that so many memories are made of this?
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| Mom's bowl of shells from Martha |
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| Magnets made from coquina shells |
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| Bowl of shells on my coffee table |
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