It happened, y’all. I found the coolest thing I’ve ever found (yet) on the beach.
It happened like this: Since we decided on visiting the Wilmington area, I’ve been excited about potentially finding a shark tooth. I am obsessed with beachcombing to begin with, and despite going to a couple of places shark teeth are likely to be found, I’ve never found one.
The whole time we were at the beach here last week, after 4 days of rain, I was chanting to myself (and poor Jeremy) “shark tooth! Shark tooth!”
I didn’t find one.
Spent a few days writing and doing work. We went back to the beach after some other adventures, and again the chant. “Shark tooth, shark tooth!”
A few hours went by as I found a lot of other cool stuff, but alas no fossilized teeth. Finally Jeremy reminded me we have dogs, patiently waiting for us at home, and we should probably get back to them.
I agreed, and kept looking for teeth. Jeremy indicated his seriousness by ABANDONING me (I mean, really, he just walked ahead, but still!). I realized that while I would find a shark tooth, it probably wouldn’t be that trip. I saw a sheet of plastic rippling at the water’s edge and figured I should at least pick up the trash.
And then…
I crouched down to pick up the plastic and froze. Immediately next to it, perfectly revealed on top of the sand, just sitting there waiting for me, was:
I made a noise, though I couldn’t tell you what it was, picked it up, and stood there grinning at the shark tooth and the ocean for at least two solid minutes. It might have been longer, but Jeremy didn’t report me missing, so probably not too long.
I was giddy the whole drive home, which translated into productive writing time, which has also only renewed my driving need to go to the beach everrrry day, then come home and write while preening over my treasures.
A large part of the reason Jeremy and I decided to do this RV life for a while is to spend more time in gorgeous places and go outside more regularly.
The Wilmington area has definitely delivered.
It’s key to have these surges of energy that keep me focused, as I’m in the homestretch of a novel (Ally, with the ever-amazing Kacey Ezell), have the homestretch in sight for another (Salt in the Wound, in Christopher Woods’ fabulous Fallen World universe), and in the planning process for several more projects that my brain can NOT wait to get to.
Usually at the end of a project I’m ready to jump to the next – in fact, keeping my brain focused on the project at hand, and not the next shiny thing, is probably the most pressing “writer-discipline” habit I have to remain conscious of – but this time I’m (mostly, ahem) staying focused.
So I’m going to keep going outside to play. Maybe I’ll have more treasures to share soon. What are you doing in these wild times to keep your focus? I’d love to hear it!
