The Essential Beachcomber

2 feet of snow My phone has been inundated with texts from snowbound relatives  and pictures of their houses buried beneath  all this white stuff...I think it's called snow. Well, it's cold here in Florida too. They don't want to hear it. I tell my sister up in Tennessee that  it's going to freeze tonight and that we have to cover the plants.... Like a poker game she sees my plants and raises me an ice-covered driveway. I guess everyone thinks that even when the mercury drops in Florida we are all still lolly gagging on the beach.Well, there is some truth to that. My lunch hour is usually spent at the local beach.  I can get there in 5 minutes so why not.  I just have to watch that the waves don't sneak attack me and send me back to work with wet shoes. So I bundled up with 2 coats, scarf, hood, & mittens and started up the beach for some power shelling when I spy this fella in a wet suit heading for the water. No way! It's 47 degrees with a 15 mph NW w...

I really don't know what all the fuss is about. Word leaked out at my work that I motor down to Venice Beach and spend my lunch hour shelling. It's possible my wet shoes & trail of beach sand by my work locker gave me away too. The jokes & snickering from my co-workers is getting a little annoying. Funny, most of these people would go to a Bucc's football game and sit in the rain or cold and not give it a second thought. But the idea of hitting the beach in 40 degree temperatures to look for seashells - well the point eludes them.  I just love shelling. I love everything about it.   When the NW winds, low tides, & moon phase all co-operate it can be magic on the beach. I'll go shelling night or day - hot or cold if all those factors line up. Come on - I'm the person who shelled Blind Pass on Sanibel during Tropical Depression #5 this summer for crying out loud.  So lunch time on the beach again today but a little farther south. Becky of Beachsnaps  wa...

I hate it when work interrupts my beach combing. It seriously hurts me to miss a good low tide or to hear about the shells rolling up on the new Redfish Pass sand bar and dang it...I have to go make a living. But I have my ways to circumvent the circumstances. It requires timing, mental toughness, & a St. Arbuck's Caramel Brulee Latte.  As I lay in bed Sunday night listening to the wind howl all I could think about was -It's blowing NW. I'm checking my tide app and it is looking good for an early low tide. I was due to work at 8am...ratz! Not enough time to hit the beach before work. My work is 2 miles from Venice Beach - just over a bridge really - sooooo..... I skip eating lunch &  skeedaddle out to Venice Beach to take a peek at what the winds blew in. Venice Beach Monday afternoon A line of shells streched about 100 yards See the Lion's Paw up front - it's my first So many nice tulips Scotch Bonnet, Lion's Paw, & ABC Cone I ...