Have you ever walked on the beach, collecting shells, and find yourself
to gravitate only to those that are intact?....
For reasons I can't define (although I have a theory) I gravitate to the
broken shells on the shore...For me, they seem to have a story to tell
as opposed to the "whole" shells...The broken ones have been thru so
much, between the waves crashing over them, creatures, etc.,

Yes, I am attracted, gravitate to the "broken" ...I don't see them as
broken, defective, I see them as beautiful....Just throwing that thought
out there..

<<< broken...but still works!

Nus, I'm glad to hear it...:-)))

Beach....

I also go for the broken shells. I go on vacations and take pictures of
dead trees and clouds. My family basically thinks I'm nuts, but they
have a story to tell.

What can I say, it does sound nutty.


-Joanne

Puff...Nutty??...No way No how...At least if it is considered "nutty"
well then mayhap you and I should join a club!...
Could be that "they" are the ones missing out..Not scratching the
surface perhaps....Or just the simple fact that everyones perception is
do different from or own, thats what it's all about I guess..

I prefer broken..BUT glued back together!!!!!!

The beach, just like my life, is full of "broken shells." Therefore, I
search for the ones that are intact, whole, healthy, beautiful, the ones
that have held up over years of abuse, the ones that have withstood
violent storms and being swept in and out to sea probably too many times
to count, the ones that have persevered in the face of whatever cards
life has dealt to them.

Then I drill holes in them and make a necklace.

i like the whole ones too but hey ill give ya all the broken ones

So..some men-if you listen real close to them-all you can hear are the
waves against the beach?

either that or the hollow sounds of the wind thru a tunnel!

I thought it was the sounds of flatulence.

I noticed while walking on the beach in Galveston, Texas that I couldn't
even one shell on the beach but while walking through the stores in
Galveston that there were nice shells but they had price stickers on
them.

I walk the shores looking for interesting shells broken or not, and also
collect the color glass. they are so cool. smoothed by the ocean... I
have a favoritie spot that was a dump many years sgo for the polished
glsee.. I use then to decorate arount my plants shells and the glass

My shell collection could be vast, and for a time it was...20 years here
walking the beach...adds up to a lot of shells..

What I noticed was that the shells I gravitated towards were spirals,
intact or worn...didn't matter.

What I also noticed was that as one family, we removed so much, that
would one day be more beach...that which was also home to many different
sea creatures..so we returned them..back to the ocean.

For if we were ten hands collecting shells, often, how many other hands
travelled just this 6 km strip of coast, and removed them also?

Then, when I added together the areas of coast walked by human feet,
just in Australia alone, then, every other coastline that washed up
shells...how much of future sand, beach, and sea creature's homes were
removed from the natural cycle of the ocean?

Back ours went...they were nice, and joyful to have for a moment...but
not for the future of this beach.

I'm a beachcomber.... I look for the unique.... i pick up what grabs me
that day.... i have whole shells, broken shells, tumbled shells, sand
dollars, whole and broken and i cant tell you how many doves i have
(those come from the inside of the sand dollar)... i have coconuts and
bottles.. some have messages in them..... i have found fishermens nets
and starfish, i have crab shells, claws, rocks, coins,....i even have
tumbled glass.....and some of my plants have been washed up on the beach
i picked them up brought them home stuck them in the ground and they
found a new life in my garden or a pot.
there is nothing perfect about anything i collect from the beach.. it's
all unique and my own treasure

BROKEN....they've been through a lot and they're more interesting

<<<--- FIXER!

I like the perfect ones that deserve a spot on the matle cause they look
so awesome...

Beach...

When I was in South Carolina on a vacation, I went to Hilton Head
Island...just to get the sand dollars....beautiful!!!

-Joanne