Our Coquina Vacation

Recently my honey and I got away for a few days to Daytona Beach.  It was a wonderful, relaxing few days, watching sunrises over the ocean horizon, listening to the rolling waves, and walking the beach morning and evening.  

On our first walk, my husband, who grew up in Daytona, introduced me to what became the delight of this vacation.  It was a perfect evening.  The temperature was perfect. The breeze was perfect.   The water was perfect.  As we walked along, we looked for the little holes that show up as the tide goes out. Just for fun, we like to try to find the tiny crabs that Colin calls sand fleas.  I was about to rediscover the 5 year old in me.

“Ah, no sand fleas - just periwinkles.  Did you see the periwinkle dig its way into the sand?” 

“No.  I didn’t know periwinkles dig into the sand.”

And so I watched.

“Oh I saw it.  I saw it.”  I squealed excitedly.  “I can’t believe I never knew about this in all the years we have been coming here.  This makes my night.”

We continued to stroll along looking for the tiny burrowing clams.  Later we found out they weren’t periwinkles at all, but coquinas.  Though I may have seen them on prior visits, the nice thing about being over 50 is that I often get to experience things again as if it’s the first time.  I was so captivated by this new discovery that I looked forward to researching what I could on the net and getting back to the beach for further observation.

Each day we learned something new.  I would spend hours on the beach just watching.  I not only saw them burrow, but discovered them rising from the hidden homes by the millions.  As the tide comes in, they slowly poke out, until the timing is just right for the waves to wash them further inland.  It is an amazing site to behold.  They rise in mass by the millions all along the beach just to be pulled by the waves a few inches to a few feet.  Many of them die in the process.

If you take the time to watch the video, (It’s only about 40 seconds), look to the top to see the tiny creatures rising up from the sand.  Then wait to watch the multitude of shell creatures tossed forward by the waves only to borrow back down.  What an awesome Creator to have conceived such incredible creatures.  

 

There are more video posts on you tube which may be better than my attempt.  We decided to call this our coquina vacation since we spent so much of our time enjoying and exploring the life of the coquinas.  I'm not done discovering yet.  

On another note, there are only a few more days to submit your 500 word piece for the Write Club Competition.  It closes May 31st.  Hop on over to D L Hammons to check out all the particulars of this exciting writing competition opportunity.  

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