It wasn't the sort of shelling I'm used to, nor was it as satisfying as shelling has been for me in the past, but the important thing to me was that I was shelling again after a 4 month forced break. Being stuck in a wheelchair really cramps a girl's shelling style. But on this particular day I was already in the car, having just visited the doctor (who'd told us I have a tumor on my spine), so I suggested to my husband that a drive out to Sanibel might be just what we needed.
It was a beautiful day and the beaches were fairly empty of people. We parked on the Captiva side of the bridge and watched the waves roll in while we absorbed my health situation. After a short while my husband got out of the car and walked to the water's edge, scooping up a double handful of shells that he brought back to me and laid on my towel-covered lap so I could sort through them, then went back to get a second scoop. I was immediately distracted from my problems and had a wonderful time picking through the shells to find and save lots of double kitten paws, a few wentletraps, a huge coquina, what I understand is being called a mac and cheese shell, a little venus clam pair, some button shells and others. That was really fun! On the drive home we were able to be more clear minded and came to agree that for various reasons we believe the tumor is probably benign. We'll know more after I have another MRI.
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