I mentioned that we found lot's of sea glass on La Chata beach while we were staying at Los Cocos, a mere 10 days ago. Lorrie loves to collect it. Each day she would come back to the house with another little handful. Sometimes she would hand the pieces to me and I would put them in my pockets as we walked along the beach in the mornings. I remember a number of times her handing me glass with a few shells mixed in. I would say to her "We have enough shells", and I would toss them back and keep the glass. Lorrie would reply "but I like the shells, they're pretty." She especially likes the little snail shells. Lorrie had packed some of the glass in a Ziploc bag the day we left Vieques. She handed me the bag and I put it in my carry-on luggage, thinking "great more sea glass." Well the next day, Sunday when we were back home, I was unpacking my bag and I saw the sea glass. I grabbed the bag and was going to add it to the cache we have at home that's kept in a clear vase. To my surprise when I opened the Ziploc baggy there was a small land crab crawling around amongst the glass pieces. I thought to myself "that little stinker wife of mine went ahead and packed some of those shells." I showed Lorrie what she had inadvertently done. Then I told her I had no choice but to kill the little guy because he would die anyway. Lorrie was not thrilled with that idea. Being the softy that I am I googled land crabs and found that you can indeed keep them with the proper environment. His new home is the largest tote I could find, plus all the sea glass and many of the shells and sand we had at home. (I picked up some washed play sand to finish things out. He has pretty much taken over our master bathroom, which is now kept at a balmy 80 degrees.) Today he dined on cooked peas, peanut butter and some apple sauce. Our goal is to keep him going until November. So far, so good.
So...without further ado..... I now introduce you to the newest member of our family, Mr. Crab, aka Hitchhiker. How this guy managed to survive all 3k miles home is beyond me!
:-)
Love it! I am glad to know that I am not the only one with a love affair with sea glass. I brought home some black sand last year and have a vase with it an part of my collection.
ReplyDeleteWe found more sea glass on La Chata than any other beach we've been on in Vieques.
Delete:-)
Ok I HAD to comment on this as I have a related story. The first time I visited Vieques in March'06 I inadvertently did the same thing. After flying home we went directly from the airport to the NJ shore for a weekend with family and I put my treasures on the table to show later. Early next morning a family member saw a crab partly out of a shell and, assuming it was brought in from the beach quickly took it back out and put it in the ocean. It WAS the Atlantic, but frigid compared to the warm water of P.R. They say it seemed dead but I still feel bad about that little crab! I still collect a few shells but I REALLY make sure they are empty now. I'm rooting for Mr. Crab and hope he makes it home to Vieques in the fall!
ReplyDeleteJenni
I'll do my best for him, November is along way off. Getting him back down to Vieques should be interesting.
Delete:-)