David’s work inspires me.  Take this picture he posted yesterday of something as completely ordinary as marbles.   Somehow he throws together some green and blue glass, with a speck of orange, and it comes out looking like a masterpiece.

I had this in mind as I took a short walk this afternoon.  Another transparent snail shell (and empty one this time) grabbed my attention, but I didn’t really want to photograph it because I’d already done something similar last week.  But then thinking of the cumulative effect of David’s multiple marbles, I thought I’d gather a few shells and see what that looked like.

Like my friend Karen had told me, those little shells really are everywhere.   It took me a minute to grab a handful and position them on a bench behind work.  As I’m working to capture the effect of the light through the shell, I kept seeing this little Latino face pop over the wall.  Before I could fully turn my head to acknowledge his presence, he would pop back down.  So, out of the corner of my eye I watched him watch my little photo project.

The big surprise came when one of the supposedly empty shells started to move, and a slimy little life emerged and began cleaving to the neighboring shell.  I got more than I bargained for!

After I returned indoors, I watched through the window as the Latino boy scampered around the wall and over to the pile of yellow shells.  I was really hoping he’d take them, but I think he was afraid I’d come back.

Camera:  Nikon Coolpix 100