Ocean water! Go beachy!!

They tell me that was about the first complete sentence I spoke as a very, very young girl. My dad took us to the beach just about every Saturday during the summer, starting out when I was the only child and continuing on as each new baby joined the family and became old enough to come too.... right on through the birth of my sister, when I was about 9 years old. We’d all pile in the back of the pick-up truck and off we’d head to Hermosa Beach. Not surprisingly, we all love the ocean. Not being near the ocean wasn’t something we thought about when we decided to move 1500 miles away from the beaches of Southern California. I miss the ocean. A lot.

My sister now prefers the lovely beach at Malaga Cove, a strip of white sand that gradually disappears into rocks and tide pools as the cliffs of Palos Verdes intrude more and more into the ocean.

Now, a few days ago I was surprised to see that the Pennsylvania Wild Woman had listed a blog about Palos Verdes. It’s a unique, wild oasis in the megalopolis that is Southern California. Many wealthy people live there, but one doesn’t have to be wealthy to go to the beach at Malaga Cove.

So, finally, I get to spend a few hours at the ocean. Bundled up to keep from getting sunburned, and with a death grip on the umbrella to keep it from blowing away in the stiff breeze coming off the ocean...

The three nieces enjoying the waves. Haaeeeey!!

My sister’s oldest daughter rising like a goddess from the waves, draped in kelp, reminds me of a photo my mom took me at the beach when I was a very little girl sporting a kelp hula skirt my father had made.


Two young men with surfboards and attached to a sail. It looked like great fun.

I didn’t go in the water except up to my knees. I think my days of bouncing around in the surf are over, what with my unstable shoulder and healing pelvic bone, but I did take a walk along the shore and there, caught in the rocks, was this amazing shell. Which leads me to the following question:

Who are you? Who who who who. I really want to know!!

I might have made a good scientist if I had been better at mathematics. I lack the math gene. I am tenacious enough to grab hold of something until I worry it to death or figure it out. But sometimes I do give up, and that is where I am now with this mystery shell I found at the beach.

I have semi-identified the shell I found as a member of the Tegula family in the category of “Tops and Turban” shells in the Audubon Field Guide I borrowed. The shell resembles the pictures in the book, the only problem is that this shell is about 3.5 inches wide and about 3.5 inches tall, and most of the shells in the book are itty bitty things.

I would like to have a name to call it, but I don’t. In the long run, it doesn’t matter. The shell is a wonderful reminder of a very special day. A special gift from the sea