A very big tooth

     I became competitive, in my own mind, with one of the Apollo Beach locals.  I knew if he got there before I did, the short stretch of beach where the fossils wash up would be picked clean.

  It got to the point where I didn't want to go unless it was dawn and once or twice I wound up sitting in my truck for a while until the sun came up enough for me to see.

     This may seem off topic but as mid summer came around my mind was pulled in another direction:  scalloping in Homosassa.  I moved back to Florida in 2004 and quickly heard about the short scalloping season from my clients.  I was dating someone at the time who owned a boat and we went twice.  I loved it!  So relaxing, like a watery Easter egg hunt for adults, and with the delicious reward of scallops at the end of the day.  Alas, when that man left my life, so did the Florida bay scallops.  

     I don't have the money or know-how to rent a boat and I've found that, in middle age, it's hard to connect with a group of people that want me tagging along with them on an outing.  Several scallop seasons passed without me...

     Last year I got so desperate I called one of the local establishments to ask for the name of a boat captain and then I called that boat captain and asked what he would charge to let me tag along if he was below capacity on his boat.  The stars aligned and I met Capt. Mike who gave me a deal and let me go out with his other customers 2x last season.  Joy!

     All this was the preface to what I saw at the Homosassa boat ramp on my return from scalloping:  a very big tooth.

     I didn't know the owner of this tooth but he said I could photograph his necklace.  He told me he found the tooth and the "Indian beads" in the Peace River and he would be happy to take me fossiling as soon as the water levels went down.   Well...no.  I wasn't ready to head down a river with a stranger but it was time to look beyond Apollo Beach and do some serious planning.