Cassandra and I set off at the crack of dawn for Honeymoon Island, just north of Tampa. The start to the day was heavily closed-in with thick cloud and this suited us perfectly as we were intent on beach-combing rather than sun worshipping.
I had in my mind the collecting of anything that looked like coral or agate for Morgan and she was intent on finding shells and precious minerals that she could use in her jewelry making efforts. Although we had no expectation of one, she was also on the look out for a sand-dollar.
The place didn’t open to the public until 8am by which time early access members had been let loose on the place about a half hour ahead of us, so there was very little likelihood of the latter.
Undaunted we set off slowly heading north, picking up and examining anything that looked cool and the keepers were gently placed in the bags that we each had.
The company and conversation was excellent and we were a couple of hours in when tummy rumbles told us that we needed to turn around and head back for something to eat.
By then, we had picked our way through tons of shells and stones, examined shapes and textures that we struggled to identify and even took the time to watch some dolphins off-shore, surface and dive in the distance.
It was a wonderful journey, enhanced by our discovering some amazing sand-designs that looks like trees made by the retreating tide.
And it was capped off with Cassandra unearthing an almost completely hidden sand-dollar on our way back. Such a bonus!
I have included some images taken along the way at the end of the blog and I hope you enjoy.
If you haven’t been to Honeymoon Island, it is a wonderful beach area, with lots of soft sand but adorned with heavy amounts of shells and stones washed up by the gulf tides.
There was one moment as we stood there that it occurred to me that the amount of shells was almost overwhelming and considering that each was once a live creature, it represented an amazing ocean-graveyard.
Their were occasional living creatures that we came across such as hermit crabs that we helped back into the waters, but essentially all around us was dead.
And yet in this death, represented an amazing beauty that captivated the imagination and teased the soul.
Each creature lived its life in the sea, until eventually their remains were washed up so that we could pick through them and marvel at the colors and shapes.
There was nothing morbid or sad about the situation and on the contrary, their deaths had become a source or life to the souls of those of us on the beach enjoying the morning.
It is hard to imagine that there was much great mourning, eulogies, and flags at half-mast for any of these creatures that lost their lives, by their relatives still swimming the seas.
And as if to reinforce the natural passage from life to death, mother nature had created a tapestry of beauty and awe so that their deaths became a part of the larger celebration of life.
We humans have grown to fear death, make vain attempts to prolong life, and have imagined a self-important after-life in an attempt to soothe the eventual loss that we know eventually comes to us all.
When faced with the loss of our loved ones, we wail and moan about how poor Aunt Maggie was taken from us so soon (even though she was 95) and drop to our knees in prayer that her everlasting life will place her with the angels.
While there is always and rightfully the sadness of loss with someone dear to us that is taken in an accident or at their prime, universal feeling of loss is frankly ridiculous.
Our lives are to be lived in love and enjoyment as much as we can, but when they are over there is no need to try to weave a story of how we all live together in the clouds, listening to endless harp music and basking in the eternal love of our long-bearded creator.
Apart from being abject nonsense and appealing only to the simple minded or perpetually fearful, it devalues our lives here, right now in this present moment. Our moments of life are fleeting and yet important and their importance is truly moreso to those around us than to us ourselves.
According to the dictionary, the term washed up means “no longer effective or successful” but to this planet our effectiveness or success is irrelevant and we are really just a part of the tree of life.
… just a thought!
