Preparation

We were celebrating my birthday at the beach in Cancun, Mexico earlier this year. Our bedroom overlooked the ocean and our unit had a balcony designed to assist us with breathtaking views of the beach. At night, we would open the sliding doors off the balcony, open the curtains and listen to the waves. The sound of the water and the ocean breeze rocked us to sleep.

During one particular night, a stream of fabulous, bright light woke me up. I thought, “What in the world is going on?” Was the resort using flood lights for something?” I jumped out of bed and headed for the balcony. On the way to the balcony I glanced at the clock. It was 3:00 a.m. As I got closer to the opened doors, I realized that moonlight was lighting up the room. Placed in the sky was the most beautiful, crisp crescent moon.

You may remember that I am an avid seashell collector. I have gathered many shells over the years and I have a very interesting collection from several places around the world. I have an assortment of big shells, little ones, polished ones and broken ones. Some are unique and rare. Some have lovely stripes and patterns while others are plain. Every time I go to the beach a shelling adventure is always at the top of the agenda.

Recently, our family took a beach trip. There were some powerful storms that occurred nearly every day of our trip. The storms would hit in the early morning or come ashore in the late afternoon. While the storms robbed me of a couple of sun-filled days on the beach, the storm’s inconvenience repaid with a contribution of fabulous shells on  the sand.