Long Beach Island has been hot, hot, hot this Summer.

I go to the beach about 7:30 am and it is already warm.  In previous years, I have usually worn a sweatshirt for a while.  But, even though it was hot, the water was crystal clear and fairly warm.  My greatest day on the beach was one of my first ones.  I had just finished helping a spider crab right itself so it could swim out to sea when I saw this object in the surf. 

When I went to examine it, it was an 8 inch section of a conch shell.  It was absolutely beautiful with its smooth texture and its blended colors of brown and gray.  I have been going to the beach for 30 years, and I have never found such a shell.  I truly consider it a gift from the sea. It also reminds me that there is beauty in brokenness.  Since that morning, I spent the rest of the Summer collecting shells and glass. 

The color and variety of shape in God's creation is amazing.

Jim and I shared in our morning search and shared good times looking at what we had found.  We also collected bits of wood that washed up on the shore.  I was please the other day to find a good example of a right triangle for the mathematician. 

A fun Summer of collecting and enjoying one of God's most wonderful creations - the mighty ocean.