I love seashells! And I wasn’t certain whether seashells was one word or two. Google says that either way is correct, but my spellcheck just said it is one word! I’m leaving it as two in the title anyway.
My husband asked me what I would like to do after his meetings while we were in Southern California a couple of weeks ago on a business trip. I immediately said I’d like to go to the beach! Although I’ve been told that the temperatures in the Newport Beach area remain fairly constant throughout the year, it felt a little chilly to me for swimming. I simply wanted to hear and smell the ocean, and look for seashells.
The day was perfect for strolling along the beach, and I found lots of beautiful shells! I use the shells I find as decorations. They are another evidence to me that God created this amazing world that we live in. While I was entranced with gathering my treasures, Mr. H spotted some dolphins swimming and playing in the water. We were too far apart, and the crashing of the waves made it impossible for Mr. H to get my attention in time, so I missed the dolphins. We did see a group of skittish and scurrying snowy plovers though. As I got close to them to take a picture, they scampered farther away. I didn’t realize until later that they are a threatened species, and that it has become difficult for them to breed on the beaches because of disturbance from the activities of humans and their animals.
A 2003 UCSB press release says that the University of California, Santa Barbara is currently endeavoring to rehabilitate snowy plover populations by protecting beaches along the Central California coastline that runs along part of the university campus. Many groups are actively working to protect plovers, turtles, and other endangered species.
Mr. H and I laughed as we watched sand pipers run out with the receding tide, hurrying to scoop up some dinner with their long beaks before the tide rushed back in. We had a marvelous time, got a little sunburned, and have seashells to remind us of our afternoon at the beach.
As I have thought more about the plight of the plovers, I see that it is we, the humans, who are endangering the plovers, the sea turtles, and so many other species on the earth. We are endangering other humans as well with our acts of violence and aggression. We could lose hope and say that nothing can be done about it, but something can be done! Many of us take notice when someone or something is hurt or struggling. We are learning and growing and trying to be better custodians of this wonderful planet we live on.
It is the cycle of life. We practice. We fail. We try again. Eventually we will get it right! We will save the plovers and the turtles, and we’ll be kinder to each other. We all need room to practice and fail, but if we continue to educate and help each other, we will succeed!