Oyster Shell Dancing

Before dinner last night, we decided to take the kids for a walk on the beach. It was a perfectly mild and clear evening for doing so. The tide was coming in and the beach was almost empty of people.

It was Addison's first time walking on sand by herself. Aidan, however, is an old salt already. He likes to run and collect seashells and rocks to place them in the little red bucket that Addison had slung over her wrist like a purse. He had me write his name in the sand and we studied the little crabs we found left on the rocks.

Addison was slow and thoughtful as we made our way along. Aidan and daddy had run ahead to explore. At one point, we came across an older man and a young woman working on cleaning oyster shells. They were silent as they worked, but the clank and thud of their instruments on the oyster shells made a simple beat with the water as a constant background.

Noticing this sound, Addison came to a halt and filled my heart with a huge smile as she dropped her bucket and began to dance. She wiggled her hips, moved her hands in the air, and smiled as she lifted her feet up and down on the sand. No one else noticed.

My daughter heard beauty that no one else heard in the music of oyster shells.

I was lucky to witness.