Every Saturday my husband and I travel to one of our favorite state park beaches in Florida. Recently, we went to our favorite, Fort De Soto Beach, for the first time since moving back to Florida. There was hardly a cloud in the sky as we arrived at the state park. It was 11 a.m. and the sun was high in the sky.
We parked at the spot along the state park road between the two popular beaches. You have to walk a quarter of a mile to get to the beach, but it's much quieter and well worth the walk. The white sand foot trail cuts through dune grasses, succulents, and little cactuses. Grasshoppers hoped in front of our feet. The sun shone so bright it felt like we were walking through a desert.
After the walk, we finally made it to the white sand beach. The sand was blinding in the sun. The shallow waters sparkled in front of us. We did not hesitate and went right in. The water was warm and clear. The floor was all soft sand, and there were many seashells and the occasional fish you could see.
While we enjoyed the water, my husband reached his hand down into the sand and pulled up a little sand dollar. It was already dead, perfectly whole and a beautiful white. We were both surprised because after all the times we have gone to the beach together we have only found pieces of sand dollars, never a beautiful whole one like this.
Allen handed me the sand dollar. In the center was a little star shape and in the middle of that star shape was a little hole where its mouth was. I could see the resemblance it had to the sea biscuit we found last year just much smaller and flat instead of round. On the edges on one half of the disc are holes at the points of the star shape, four holes and one bigger hole that is in between two of the star points. These holes are called pores, and when the sand dollar is alive, they use these pores to propel themselves through the water. All sand dollars have these features.
We were amazed that we found such a perfect sand dollar and sure we weren't going to find any more, that it was just a lucky find. I carried it back to our beach towel to make sure it stayed safe. I held it carefully; I didn't want to break it.
I put the sand dollar on our towel. Maybe there were more I thought; it was worth looking. Whenever you find a beach treasure, you get this excitement, and you begin a mad search to find more. My husband was doubtful we would find anymore, "I think we were just lucky with that one," he said, but I was determined. So, I began pacing the shallow waters, head down, scanning the bottom with my eyes and there, half covered in sand was another little white disk. I reached in and picked it up; to my excitement, I found my own sand dollar.
I walked a few more feet and found another and another. In total, we found ten whole sand dollars. Many were small like the first one we found, but we found three medium sized ones that were as big as my palm.
You never know what treasures you may find in nature or at the beach. There are beautiful things to discover everywhere. Sometimes you just have to look and maybe sometimes it is luck.
