My Shells

I've probably mentioned this before but I have always been searcher. I like looking for things. From words in crossword puzzles to fossils on an outcrop of rock, there is something about finding things that fascinates me. (I used to go night diving a lot when I lived in Florida. And I loved it. Searching around in the dark was fun and it was such a great feeling to find a beautiful shell. It's one of the things I miss most about living there.) But finding stuff is like treasure hunting, except instead of gold and gems I find bits of sea glass or pretty flowers. I do it all the time. I can hardly walk past the tree in front of my apartment without searching the ground for a pretty leaf to pick up and take inside.
Anyway to my dismay, the beach in front of our condo on our recent trip to Hawaii was completely devoid of shells! I was bummed out, but what could I do? Then on the second to last day we were there I was snorkeling in the shallow sandy water just behind where the waves break, and I found my treasure trove! There weren't tons of shells, but every time the surge moved in and out a shell or two was uncovered, and I swooped down as quickly as I could to retrieve it. It was a little frustrating at times because while the waves uncovered shells, they also buried ones I was trying to reach, and so I lost a great number of beautiful specimens, but I wasn't deterred.
I spent several hours swimming back and forth in that little zone, scanning the bottom for a brightly colored piece of sea glass, or a shiny shell. And the only reason I stopped is because my back side was getting burnt to a crisp, and I 'd inadvertently swallowed about a half a gallon of sea water. After all my troubles I had acquired a nice assortment of shells that filled up half a sandwich sized ziplock bag. I washed and rinsed my treasures carefully, and packed them away to take home as pleased as if they'd been a bag of gold coins!
I could have bought much prettier shells at any of the gift shops I was at, but the shells I collected are way better because I found them, I picked them up myself off the bottom of the ocean, and probably the last living thing to touch them besides myself was the animal who's home they'd once been.