oops

-I scratched the car backing up Sunday night. I was hoping MrPea would be the one to put the first scratch on the car but, no, it was me. Well I sort of blame him anyway since I was backing up from picking up his order of chicken wings. So it's sort of his fault. I got so freaked out that when I stopped to look at what I backed into that I stepped into the biggest nastiest puddle in the parking lot and ruined my flip flops. In my defense how in the hell was anyone supposed to see 2 small concrete planters? Damn chicken wings.

-I went to my beach again yesterday. Normally when people pass by while I'm looking for teeth, I smile hello but keep to myself. If anyone asks me what I'm looking for, I quickly say,"Nothing! How are you and what a pretty day!" and go about my business. This is because if they are fellow fossil seekers, they already know what I'm doing and won't need to ask. So I'm not about to tell complete strangers with no appreciation for what I'm doing so they can go and tell all their damn cousins and friends about the BEST kept secret in Florida that is this beach. These hypothetical strangers are probably not locals and staying at one of the shishifoofoo inns, and leaving their trash all over my favorite place in the world. I'll try to be as charming as growing up in the south has taught me how to be but I won't tell them what I'm doing especially since what happened to that last secluded beach I loved so much.(it got developed and has a big f-ing parking lot now because everyone found out about it and how beautiful it is)

But yesterday I was feeling a little snotty(in a good way) so when a friendly older couple came by to say hello and ask if I was finding anything good, I said(haughtily, I should add) "Oh yeah, just look at all these beautiful teeth! Isn't it a great day for this?" I noticed that they had a few teeth as well, other wise I wouldn't have showed them mine. "Can I see yours," I said," have you found any bull shark teeth, that's the only one I don't have in my collection." The husband said(modestly, not arrogantly at all),"oh just a few," and pulled some out of his pocket that were as big as quarters and made the biggest one I've ever found seem like a sunflower seed. He also showed me a piece of tooth that was obviously from a megalodon. "Oh," I said. This put me in my place.

I saw them later on and they were so nice to me and gave me some good tips, something I would NEVER have done because I'll admit it, I'm stingy about anything to do with this beach. He also showed me some fossilized whale bone and sea turtle shell and identified a piece I've been collecting for years that I thought were shark vertebrae as puffer fish mouth plates. The wife whispered the names of a couple places I could go to look for mammoth bones if I wanted to and told me not to tell anyone. This really put me in my place.
I should be nicer to people when I'm there, if I hadn't made friends with this couple, the thought would never have occurred to me that anyone would give me any tips just for the sake of protecting this beach(something I can understand because I feel the same way that's why I was acting the way I was). But I should have known that anyone who has enough patience and appreciation to hunt for fossils would have the same love as I do for this beach.


(I did end up finding what appears to be fossilized bone. I don't know what kind though.)