beach combing southwest florida

Yes, I am a fanatic sheller and beachcomber… but some days I want to visit the sea to find calmness and peace.

Sanibel stoop shelling april

The beach reminds me that life’s treasures aren’t always obvious. At times I have to stop for a minute or two and focus on everything that is surrounding me. Then take another minute or two to refocus from the large obvious objects, to the smaller items that I may not have noticed.

looking for seashells florida

There is so much there and so much more to enjoy. That’s when I am happiest.

seashells on sanibel beach april

 By the look on Kelly’s face, she found a little happiness too.

kelly beach comber sanibel

Kelly (Colorado) picked up a TINTED CANTHARUS, WENTLETRAP and golden CHESTNUT TURBAN near Gulfside City Park.

tinted cantharus wentletrap turban

I don’t see the TINTED CANTHARUS often so here is a look at the aperture side of the shell…

tinted cantharus aperture

It also makes me so happy to find someone else that only collects one little shell to make them all warm and fuzzy (although we didnt need much help with getting warm… it was in the mid 80s. Nice!). I was happy to meet Susan from Naples…

susan sun bather sanibel

She was thrilled to find this beautiful little COQUINA. She told me she loves butterflies and showed me her butterfly notebook which matched her sweet little COQUINA. That’s all she needed to make her day of shelling complete. One COQUINA. Every day should be that simple.

coquina butterfly notebook

With all of the beautiful shells strung along the beach, Caryn from Michigan was quite amazed by the SPONGES, EGG CASINGS,  and even the BONES (leftover bait from the crab traps that fell out) that were scattered on the beach. Ah! Somebody else that loves that BEACH BLING like I do!

caryn mi beach bling sanibel

And I met other beachcombers that found a few treasures but just as happy to be on the beach with the fresh air and sunshine. Here is Bernadette from Quebec City, Gertie from Arizona and Angela from Melbourne, FL (with the iLS shell ID card!)…

bernadette ca gertie az angela

Ahhhh. Yes. I found my not-so-obvious treasures in seeing the happy faces of others enjoying what Mother Nature does best… reminding us that every day is a gift.

sanibel stoop girls seashells