Fossils

I was walking on the beach the other day, picking up flat sea-washed stones that I could skip over the water. It was a rather pleasant, stress-free stroll, with calm water slapping gently on the sand. This particular rock was a bit heavy so I threw it aside, thinking that it would go straight to the sea bottom. It must have hit another rock when I tossed it because it split in two, and lo and behold, there they were, fossils.

Needless to say, I picked the two halves up and brought them home. I don't think I'll ever skip rocks again because I fear I might be throwing away a fascinating treasure. I don't know anything about fossils or the organic creatures that became caught up in this rock, but I can now imagine learning about geology and archeology.

I’ve known from my days in school that fossils are the remains or traces of ancient life. Fossils can be mineralized bones, teeth, shells, wood, or actual unaltered material from an organism, like frozen mammoth flesh, bones and fur. One thing all fossils have in common, they are old, at least 10,000-years-old. It seems obvious that I have found some shells that were fossilized.

Now when I walk on the beach, I’ll be looking for similar types of rock to try and split open. Maybe I’ll find fossilized teeth or bones of some animal long gone from this earth. The possibilities seem endless to me.

If you click on the opposite photo, it should be large enough to see the fossils clearly.