It seems to me that we have gone to the little house pretty much every year of our married life. We went there without children, with one, with two, and more recently with three. We’ve got a lot of memories stored up in that place. It’s my parents-in-law’s little guest house. They usually rent it out to snowbirds in the winters, but in the summers, it is available to all us “kids.” I jokingly call it our “vacation home.”

On the hunt again this summer for coral, Big Bro donned his mask and dove continuously into the shallows, sometimes reappearing with his treasure. Li’l Bro gathered a collection, too, placing shell after shell into his collection bag. And even sissy picked up a few, though she was far too busy dashing into the waves to be bothered with such work.

And even I collected many sea treasures this trip, preferring water-worn rocks that reminded me of the power of persistence.

I didn’t collect many at all of my usual and mundane near-perfect shells, choosing interest over perfection this time.

I wondered about what secrets these shells once held… and still do.

I loved to find opalescent and iridescent shines.

And so many colors, patterns, and shapes.

Well, however we arrived there, we came back to the little house with quite an extensive collection. But before we packed them into the minivan with us for the sixteen-hour trek back home, one thing needed to be done.

After the unfortunate acorn episode, I’m a little more wary of what sort of flora and fauna I bring into the house!

So here’s my tip… [I think I can just sneak it in under the guise of it still being summer.] Boil those shells!

Boil your shells for ten minutes to disinfect them and evict any lingering little critters (gracious, I hope PETA doesn’t come after me for saying that?!).

And have a marvelous end-of-summer! Wheeeee!

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