My Crucifix Fish......

It's not the best picture but....if you look really close maybe you can see why it's called a crucifix fish. (Actually, I think it's the skeleton of a catfish.)

Anywho....On one of my morning beach walks last December the nicest lady (also a beach walker) came up to me and asked if I'd ever seen a crucifix fish. I told her I hadn't and she held out what you see in the above picture. She asked if I could see Jesus on the cross. I immediately saw what she was talking about. Then she shook the fish skeleton and said the rattle I heard was the noise of the gamblers at the foot of the cross. I thanked her and told her I couldn't wait to show it to my kids when they arrived. She said her kids thought it was weird. ....As it turned out, so did mine. Oh, well. I brought it home anyway and framed it. And no I haven't told my kids. They'd think that was really weird.

As I mentioned, I think it's a catfish skeleton left after the red tide made its way through the area and as the lady warned me -- they stink have a strong smell. She recommended soaking it in clorox water. After soaking and then sitting in the sun for months we'll see how long mine makes it inside -- encased in glass. I found out that the lady I'm talking about was/is a local who's able to walk the beach whenever she wants. Talk about a dream life!

She was dressed so nice -- a pink jogging suit, a pink visor, even pink nails and lipstick to match her outfit. I felt like Raggedy Ann. After giving me the fish skeleton crucifix fish she walked on by but came back three or four times to gift me with shells she'd picked up. So nice -- even if she did mention she collected coral so she was keeping the big piece of coral she found. She pointed out where she'd watched an octopus work it's way back into the water. Do you think you'd ever get tired of living a life like that? (Maybe having to put up with sand everywhere and in everything would eventually wear you down, but I think it'd take a while.)

One day I'm going to post pictures of the shells J. collected and the shells I collected. You know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words? I think those pictures will speak volumes about our differences....