Starfish

     I really wanted a starfish on our trip to Sanibel Island off the coast of Florida. We were on the island of Coya Costa and were walking along the shoreline, looking for Queen Scallop shells and whatever else we could find. I saw a starfish in the surf and delightedly picked it up as it was rolling in the surf and I thought it was dead. You are not supposed to pick up shells that are live so I was so excited to find this one. I carefully put it in our pile by my snorkel and fins so I could return to the sea for more treasures. Chris was picking up shells as well, and our paths crossed often, excitedly showing each other the various pieces we had found. On one of our trips to our pile, Chris noticed the starfish moving an arm ever so slowly. We carefully returned it to the sea past the wave line, hopefully to survive to another day.

This reminded me of a story I found years ago~The Starfish Story

     A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
     She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, "Little girl why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can't save all these starfish, You can't begin to make a difference!"
     The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, "Well I made a difference to that one!"
     The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
     Adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C Eiseley

Starfish~Acrylic on canvas~10 x 10 day 87 of the 100 days