Shell Sand

Algy had been away for a while, visiting some dear old friends, but as his assistant had forgotten to take an essential piece of equipment with her, Algy’s adventures were temporarily interrupted during his absence from home.

In due course Algy returned, however, and feeling somewhat fatigued from his journey, he sought out a sunny spot on a tiny beach where he could spend a peaceful afternoon just resting and dreaming lazily of future adventures. Much of the “sand” in this particular place was still in the process of forming, and Algy found that he was surrounded by a fascinating array of sea shells in every state from whole shells to coarse shell sand. It was warm leaning against the dark rock, and it was not long before Algy started to doze…

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Back to the Beach :)

The weather had been unpleasantly wintry in the latter part of April: temperatures had dropped to near freezing, bitter northerly gales had brought frequent showers of sleet and snow, and all the creatures of the west Highlands, Algy included, had taken cover and tried to keep warm as best they could.

But as the month drew to a close, the weather began to change, albeit very slowly, and on Wednesday the wind dropped and the world was filled with light. Although it was still very cold, Algy stretched himself out on the sand in front of the sparkling sea, and marvelled at the beautiful colours it could display when it had a mind to… He was surprised to find a substantial scattering of sea shells on this stretch of the beach, where they only rarely appeared, and wondered how so many could have got there so quickly.

It was another sunny day, and Algy thought it would be a good idea to collect some sea shells to decorate his nest, while the weather was still dry and reasonably warm. When he flew down to the beach, however, he discovered that conditions were not quite as pleasant as he had supposed…

Algy lay on the sand, singing the seashell song, and gazing at the scene in front of him. He loved the shimmering cloud reflections on the sea, and the way that the coloured winkle shells always seemed to collect in a line across this particular beach, creating an ever-changing band of red, orange and yellow across the sand.

Algy decided that although it was often very hard work – and the weather was frequently dreadful – on the whole, the life of a fluffy bird in the West Highlands of Scotland was a good one 🙂

The sun was still shining over Scotland, so Algy decided to spend his Saturday afternoon looking for sea shells. He knew a place on one part of the beach where all the shells seemed to collect, but the difficulty was deciding which ones to take home 🙂

As he looked at all the shells, Algy started to sing a very old seashell song. You can hear the version he is copying if you watch this YouTube clip from about 5:43 onwards (drag the play slider along):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YvHn4_8n78

Of course, if you are a W. C. Fields fan like Algy, or a fan of Jan Duggan, you will want to watch the whole clip, as it contains some classic scenes 🙂

Algy hopes that you will all have a very happy and relaxing weekend, collecting sea shells or indulging in whichever leisure activities you most enjoy xoxo

When the tide swept in, Algy retreated to a drier part of the beach close to the dunes, with the intention of trying to count the sands as The Man in the Wilderness had asked. But above the tide line he found a wonderful area of reddish-coloured shells, which had been washed together by a recent surge tide to form an isolated patch on the sand. Algy decided that it would be much more interesting to count the shells instead – or perhaps just to look at them for a while …

Algy retreated to a higher spot, and found a nice wee sun trap between two mounds of rock. The perfect place for a Sunday afternoon rest – at least until the tide sweeps in! Sea shells were scattered across the pale sand around him, in patterns created by the previous ebb. Algy just loves the way that these patterns constantly shift with every new tide. The beach really is never the same twice.

Algy hopes that you all have a wonderful, lazy Sunday afternoon 🙂