Day10

While I was driving up to Lehigh to see the blind dude, I got stuck behind a school bus that was disabled. A cop was parked there, directing everyone around. Boy, those kids had an exciting day - can you imagine not having to be in school because you are stuck on a disabled school bus? Whoooopeeeeee!

So, I went with a 2 1/2" plantation shutter, in a color that best matched the walls (off white). The bottom halves and the top halves will be able to open/close independently, so if I'm running around the house naked, I can choose to let the world see either my butt or my boobs, or both, or neither, as the mood strikes me.

The blind dude is going to Disney World for a long weekend. I told him to be sure to visit the Flower & Garden Festival in Epcot, and also the new roller coaster in the Animal Kingdom, called Expedition Everest. He was grateful for the tips. He said to call him as the date of my arrival approaches, because he wants to hang a temporary covering for me in the master bedroom, on the French doors. This way, I won't be sleeping in a fishbowl until the shutters are made and installed.

Then I grabbed some lunch and got gas ($2.97 per gallon!) and headed back to the island. I walked the beach for hours and hours as the tide went out.

The tide went out REALLY far today. New Moon doing her thing on the eve of her birthday. There was a tidal pool stretching far west of the hotel, stopping just short of the Sundial. The tidal pool trapped Wispy Nanny in spots. Then, there was a sand bar, and then the tide line.

I started out in front of my hotel, and the first thing I nailed was a small true tulip in a nice orangey color. Suddenly, I heard a voice close by, saying, "Ah! A perfect little one!". I looked up, and a man was standing there holding out a banded tulip.

"oh, no!" I said. "Finders, keepers!"

He held it out to me again, and laughed and took it, saying, "You're one of those 'it's all about the finding, not about the keeping' types, aren't you?". He grinned and ambled off, the hunter seeking his next conquest.

I found another moon snail by doing the toe turnover thing. And tons more cockles. I can't stop picking up cockles. Someone, please help me!

On my journey west, a boy of about 12 was approaching me. He had a full mesh bag in one hand and a gorgeous, huge horse conch in the other. I stopped to speak to him, and asked how far out he had to go to get it - he indicated beyond the breakers, where it was still quite shallow, but pretty far out. I told him to soak it in bleach and the black would come off and reveal a beautiful white/pink/peach color. He thanked me and we were both on our way, continuing in opposite directions.

A couple of minutes later, two older teens came by with some pretty big whelks. I asked them the same question, and they told me they had been digging around in the tidal pool. Well, I didn't have anything to dig with, and maybe I should get me one of those claw-on-a-stick things from Baileys. I went to where they had been digging and pushed the sand around with my toes. I came up with two whelks, not nearly as big as what they had found, but very pretty colors. I was content.

The sun was going down behind the condos along the beach on my return to the hotel, and there were also some clouds obscuring it, making it harder to see in the tidal pool. My bag was pretty full; I had collected some big cockles, which made it heavy. I was weary of traipsing up and down the beach, but idyllically so. Life is good!

I made a pit-stop at the foot wash and at the shell rinsing sink. When at last I straggled back to my room (leaving my shelling shoes outside the door - people do that in this hotel, and no one ever takes anything, to my knowledge), it was going on 8:00 PM. I set my shells in a little bleach water and laid them out and took pics for you all. Mind you, this is only TODAY'S haul - I have a double supermarket plastic bag full from previous days that is bulging and quite heavy!

Tomorrow I will check out and set out to local stores to pick up some stuff for the house. Then I will sweep and damp mop the tile floors, and dust out the cabinets - everything is just a bit dusty from the cabinet guy coming in to replace the scratched doors.

And then I'll go back to New York to get ready for the move.