Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Gift from the Sea

If a friend gave you a nice shell like this, wouldn't it make you glad? (sorry so fuzzy)
What about a nice whopper like this one? It's larger than my hand. It's a conch shell, I think.
Here's the flip side. When I look in there, I wonder about the creature that homed himself there, what muscles he had, to pull around this massive, heavy shell.  How often did he peek out, into the swirling green waters, to see what was there in his world?
And another. This one has less color, more texture. The lines running down the side are particularly beautiful, and the pronounced nubs on the shoulder. I wish I knew the right terminology. I know the opening is called the aperture, and the tip is the apex.
Well, my sweet friend gave me a whole basket of beauty. Will you look at that? She and her hubby went to an island near here, and they said the shells were everywhere; they were tripping on them.  Almost all of these are very large. She already had baskets of her favorites in her house, so these were lagniappe -- extra! Lagniappe from the sea!
I find them so very beautiful, I can't stop looking at them. My friend washed them well, and when I got them home I rubbed each one with mineral oil  thoroughly, so they shine a little.
See what I mean? To me, they look old and wise. Do they long to return to the sea, like the Silky Woman in The Secret of Roan Inish?
I'm tempted to make one of these pics my banner picture above. But I'm not yet ready to let go of the shot I have up there now, which is so nice.
The basket, by the way, I found at a yard sale here in town for $2.00. That was nice too.
And Pom-Pom, if you haven't seen the movie, The Secret of Roan Inish, it would fit you to a tee :)
And ... my own personal copy of Ann M. Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea arrived in the mail while I was typing this post! What perfect timing the Lord has. I love that about Him. This afternoon I might watch the movie, read the book and hold a conch shell.

8 comments:

Sarah said...

I just cannot believe the abundance of those shells - each one more beautiful than the next!

Pom Pom said...

Gorgeous shells! I found one pretty little clam shell in Washington. One.
I MUST watch The Secret of Roan Inish. I'll pop over to my Netflix and put it at number one. I'm NEVER going to get the old Railway Children. It's on "extreme delay" so I'll look forward to Roan Inish.
I wonder what happened to my Gift from the Sea. Hmmmm. Better go click for another.
Great post, good MK!

Gumbo Lily said...

As I was reading and admiring all of those shells, I was thinking to myself, "Gifts from the Sea." I loved that book and I have never lived by the sea.

I think your shells would make a beautiful blog banner.

magsmcc said...

Oh it all sounds lovely- but I do also like the header picture too. Do you know what Go did for me today? He got the car insurance people to ring me, because he so knew that I was never going to do it before Friday was up!

Thistle Cove Farm said...

MK - the basket was an absolute steal! the shells are wonderful, get thee to that island -smile-. love Gift of the Sea and read every year.
love your blog header photo...it's a glimpse of Glory.

M.K. said...

Dear bloggy friends -- it's so nice to read you all here :) I will enjoy these shells for the rest of my life, hopefully :) Pom, def. go check out Roan Inish -- and all of you. It's a lovely movie. Sandra, you and I are speaking the same language.

debbie bailey said...

I would definitely make those basket of shells your header photo; when you're ready, of course! They're beautiful.

M.K. said...

Thanks, Debbie :) I probably will, in time. It's so hard to find the perfect background to go with the photo. I often need to dedicate hours to the search.