Monday, April 6, 2015
Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2004. This was during Mattie's second birthday party and the theme was trains. Mattie had an early love and affection for trains. All kinds of trains. Of course as he got older, electric trains became his focus and interest. Yet he never outgrew the adorable Tank Engine Thomas and it seems to me Mattie always had a toy car or train in his hands at all times.
Quote of the day: Everyone can master a grief but he that has it. ~ William Shakespeare
On our way to the Shell Museum today we passed an Ibis on the side of the road. Ibises are quite common in Florida. They are nicknamed the "Florida pigeon." But they are long legged wading birds, who dig for food in the mud with their down curved bills.
This is the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum. For many years, Sanibel shell enthusiasts dreamed of
establishing a museum dedicated entirely to shells and mollusks and their
importance to the environment. Sanibel Island, long considered one of the
world's best shell-collecting areas, would be the appropriate location.
The actual building fascinated me because it looked like the shape of a seashell from the outside. It almost prepared you for what you were about to see inside.
In early 1989, pioneer island residents Francis, Samuel, and
John Bailey promised to deed over to the Museum eight acres of land situated in
the wetlands south of Sanibel-Captiva Road. At the same time, approvals for the
use of the site were granted by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection. In 1990, the Bailey brothers
materialized their generous gift of eight acres of land in memory of their
parents, Frank P. Bailey and Annie Mead Matthews. In their honor, the museum is
named The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum.
In January 1990, the Museum opened its capital campaign
office, and actor Raymond Burr served as campaign chairman. In fact, there is a memorial garden dedicated to Mr. Burr at the entrance to the Museum. If you are a Perry Mason fan, then this whole notion captured a visitor's attention!
The museum displayed this simplistic, yet helpful map of the Island. Peter and I are staying all the way on the right. Not on Sanibel itself, but that little piece of yellow land that is connected to the causeway directly above the word, "lighthouse park beach." Each time we want to enter into Sanibel, we need to come over the causeway which is a $6 toll. There are no resorts per se on the Island, only small inns, homes to rent, and smaller properties. Since we have never been to Sanibel before, we weren't going to chance it with properties we were unfamiliar with. So instead we are driving across the causeway, but for a small Island, they have a MAJOR traffic problem. In any case, we visited the circle on the map today, right by where it says "Sanibel Island."
The shells were beautifully displayed in the museum, and before we started touring around, we actually saw a 30 minute film about Mollusks. We learned more about mollusks and particularly about two families of mollusks, Bivalues and Cephalopods.
What truly caught our attention was this fact! While walking on the beach the other day, we saw tons of this stuff but didn't know what it was. They are Whelk (a type of cephalopod) shell casings, in essence where whelk shells lay their eggs to form MORE shells. Apparently thousands of baby shells can be hatched from these casing!!!
These shells are deep water species that are found over a mile down in the Gulf of Mexico. They are rare and hardly ever seen. They were brought up by shrimp trawl nets and traps.
In some cultures shells were used as currency! This form of money was called Cowries. Check out the specifics in 1850:
1 chicken could be purchased for 50 cowries for example!
Think about how much all these Cowries could have been worth centuries ago!
A sailor's valentine is a form of shellcraft, a type of
mostly antique souvenir, or sentimental gift made using large numbers of small
seashells. These were originally made between 1830 and 1890, and they were
designed to be brought home from a sailor's voyage at sea and given to the
sailor's loved one or loved ones.[1] Sailor valentines are typically octagonal,
glass fronted, hinged wooden boxes ranging from 8" to 15" in width,
displaying intricate symmetrical designs composed entirely of small sea shells
of various colors glued onto a backing. Patterns often feature a centerpiece
such as a compass rose or a heart design, hence the name, and in some cases the
small shells are used to spell out a sentimental message. Although the name
seems to suggest that the sailors themselves made these objects, a large number
of them originated in the island of Barbados, which was an important seaport
during this period. Historians believe that the women on Barbados made the valentines
using local shells, or in some cases using shells imported from Indonesia, and
then the finished products were sold to the sailors.
The museum featured the beauty of shells from around the world, such as Italy and its use of cameo carvings into shells.
Shells in Architecture
Later in the afternoon we went to outdoor shops called Periwinkle Walk
The flowers and trees at this outdoor complex were glorious and I wish all our shopping areas in DC looked like this!
In the center of the shopping area was this lovely Banyan tree!
Of course no day would be complete without a lizard sighting! A message from Mattie!
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