Just call me Shellin' Ellen!
Last week Mr. Wonderful and I celebrated our
25th Wedding Anniversary. I wanted to do
something special to mark the occasion and at
first I thought we would go out for a nice dinner.
The more I thought about it though, that didn't
seem to be special enough to mark such a big
milestone. As I was travelling all over the world
earlier this summer, I would fall into bed exhausted
and talk to Wonderful on the phone each night and
ask him to take me to the beach for our next trip.
Something relaxing and laid back. A big anniversary
seemed like a good reason to head to Sanibel Island.
Well, it was laid back... I'm not sure if you would call
it relaxing.
I'd have that poor guy out on the beach at dawn
each day so I could have an early look at what
washed up overnight.
We got up close and personal with the local
wildlife. We saw dolphins and manatees and
all sorts of shore birds and an eagle flew right
over us one morning.
I would walk for hours down the nearly deserted
beaches. I was lost in my thoughts listening to the
waves crash on the shore and the tinkling of the
shells as the waves went back out to sea that sounded
like the most beautiful wind chimes you have ever
heard.
The best reason to come to Sanibel is for the
shells. This is what I found in just the first day
and a half. I especially love the beautifully
colored calico scallops. While most teenagers
were rebelling against their parents, I was traveling
with mine. My Mum and I would spend weeks
collecting those beautiful scallops and finding so
many now makes me miss her even more but at
least I have happy memories of times gone by.
On our third day at Blind Pass Sanibel beach, we
arrived early and I was noticing the shell line was
being pulled out onto the sand bar, I worried that
maybe the sand bar was weakening and there could
be a rip current. I went for a walk for a few hours
and when I got back the area that looked strange
that morning had become a mountain of shells. It
was as if it was a volcano and the lava was shells.
The really odd thing about this was it happened
right in front of where we had set up camp for the
day. I think the mermaids got together and said
Ellen has come here for a big celebration, let's
give her a present from the sea. And by the next
day it was gone, all washed back out to sea.
(I'm so sorry I didn't get a photo of the mountain!
We had a great time on our little getaway. Oh, how
I miss living near the beach. We also got to catch a
few terrific sunsets.
Too often I see people watch the sun set into the
water and then they take off. Then they miss the
after show, always wait for the after show! That's
when you can often see the best color.
