Back to the mountains

Today is my day to tie all the loose ends, pack the car, and see my daughter in law and grand babies for the last time for this visit. As I write this, I'm savoring the sound of the clanging bell and horn of the train which is at the bottom of my street. Funny how I was so assaulted by noises at the beginning of this journey, and now I have adjusted. I wonder what quiet will feel like when I get home.

Have a great weekend, I'll be checking in again soon.

P.S.

I've been forgetting to share with you that I've received a couple of answers about the shells I posted here a little while back. The first answer came from a friend of a friend who is a professor (now retired) at Scripps Institute of Oceanography:

Hi Martie: From my colleague at the London Museum of Natural History: According to Jon Todd, the mollusk expert in the museum: "Almost certainly an Astraea (Vetigastropoda: Turbinidae)" Cheers, Elena Se also: http://www.pakistan-karachi.info/Vetigastropoda and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astraea_(gastropod)

The second answer, which is also correct, is from my spinning and blog friend, Shelly, who is a scuba diver in these local waters, so surely knows her stuff. She reported it as being a Wavy Top Turban Shell. Now that I've had these exact words, I've been able to locate internet information relevant to our local waters. Turns out people eat them, and report them to taste like conch (which I have never tasted). I think I am happier finding the empty shells along the shore and imagining that the prior occupant had to move into a bigger shell.

I also found this tidbit on line:

•

wavy turban snail/ wavy top snail (Megastraea undosa)

° The wavy top snail has a large, heavy shell with undulating ridges spiraling along the outside of its reddish shell. The wavy top's shell can grow to 11 cm (4.3 in.) in diameter making this one of the larger snails to inhabit the lower intertidal and subtidal zones. Wavy top snails range from Point Conception, California to Baja California, Mexico. A similar species, the red turban snail, is smaller and ranges along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to Baja California, Mexico.