I've been collecting seashells for as long as I can remember. From east to west, coast to coast, and shore to shore, I always find a treasure to keep, and adore.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Seashell Saturday

For several years, I have been intrigued by Lightening Struck Sand.

The scientific names are Fulgurite, and Lechatelierite.

What, you may ask, does this have to do with shells???

One day while shelling, much to my surprise, awe, and glee....

I found an unusual shell.
Not a pretty, pretty shell.
This shell tells a little story,
and I could hear it plain as day.

This little clam shell was attacked by a wormy,
which left the inside hollow.
One day, this shell
lying in the sand
was struck by lightening
and the force of the strike blew the shell apart.
Lightening + Sand = Glass.
Can you see it? The rim of glass around the"blasted" opening of the shell?! I'm considering this the find of a lifetime!

I am on the hunt not just for shells, but I'd like to find more lightening glass...
or even some more lightening struck shells. It's not very likely I will, but I'll continue my treasure hunt.

Have a Super Saturday!

Love,
Del

12 comments:

Leo said...

Great to learn this. When I collect shells with holes, I have wondered what creates the little holes. Hope you have a great Saturday! I am off to San Francisco.

Shellbelle said...

This is the coolest thing! I've never heard of this before and I love learning new things about seashells. Now I'm going to be on the hunt for one of these myself. Thanks for sharing such an interesting post!

il*mostro said...

Woah... thats awesome :) This is the first time I hear of lightning and shells!! I'd love to see it in person!

Della said...

Enjoy your trip Deb! Hopefully it's a fun trip, and not all work :D

Rhonda...Tampa has loads of lightening, as you know I'm sure;) Lots of cloud to ground strikes. I found this shell just below Clearwater. Good luck, and if you find, you have to have show and tell! I'm sure you will, it's so exciting!

Frances, have you seen the movie Sweet Home Alabama? Same theory in general, although the movie has several errors and misinformation, the idea is the same.

I'm so happy to have shared this with you all!
Now get out there, and find some lightening glass :D

.. said...

Very interesting post. I've never heard of lightning struck sand.

Melissa at bubbyandbean.com said...

Wow! This is so cool. I don't live anywhere near an ocean, but I travel a lot, and now I want to find "special" shells like that. :)

pam @ iLoveShelling said...

O-My-Gosh!!! I would love to find some of this lightning glass...especially in shells! That's the first thing I thought about when I was reading this.... the movie Sweet Home Alabama. Loved it AND some of it was filmed on Captiva. Love this post!
ps- thanks for your sweet note about Smittie The Kitty. RadioCat is a cool radiation therapy for cats with hyperthyroid. I just learned about it.

Della said...

Wow Pam! I had no idea that cats got radiation. I guess dogs do too, as animals can get some of the same diseases and ailments we do. Will he take medication, too, or just the treatments?

Melissa... if you are near a desert, or somewhere that has sand, you can find lightening glass there too! :D

You learn something new everyday!

Desert Dreaming said...

This is so awesome to learn that. Living in Florida for over 30 years, I've never knew that, but it sure will make me look at each shell a little closer. Was suppose to go to Pass-a-Grille this morning, changed it until tomorrow...going to keep my eyes opened.

Thank you again...have a great weekend.

Joni

julie cavender said...

That is so interesting. I had never heard of lightning glass and to see a shell with it incorporated must be one in a million!

My Life Under the Bus said...

That is the coolest thing ever! It's funny how it looks like any other shell but tells a story in deed! Very cool Del!

Maya said...

I have never ever heard of the lightening factor either!! Fascinating. I'll keep this in mind for sure!

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