Thank Goodness It's Friday !!!!!!

Howdy folks,                                                                                  September 12, 2008

In my normal Friday, end of the work week fashion, I went out and hit the beaches. This past week has been extremely stressful...... You would be stressed too if you were trying to close a $60 Million dollar loan and one day it look bleak and the next day it looks good.

The best way for me to relax is to hit the beach and take a walk. Tonight was a nice night, plenty of sunshine and a brief period of rain (heavy rain). The beaches in our area are currently covered in shells.....NICE shells. This is a result of Gustav, which brought these ashore as it headed toward New Orleans last week.

I was fully anticipating more "stuff" to be washed up on the beach since Ike recently went by, but actually, Ike has washed about 1/2 the shells back into the gulf in the past couple of days.

The following is a series of pictures of some of the shells I collected tonight. All of these variety of shells are regularly found on our beaches. Depending on the actual beach that you visit, some of these shells may be found in high abundance or not at all. Each beach is different as to the variety you may find.

The scallop is by far the most colorful shell found in the Gulf of Mexico. The shells to the right are just a small selection from todays gathering. We find these in various colors of red, yellow, stripped, purples, and shades of brown.

The two oval shaped shells are called "letter olives". When these shells are alive they are the fastest moving shell in the Gulf.

This grouping of shells has a wide variety. Starting in the top right corner and heading clockwise we have:

1. Lettered Olive

2. Lightning Whelk

3. Banded Tulip

4. Pear Whelk

5. Coral

6. Florida Fighting Conch

7. Letter Olive

Center: Shark Eye

And the squiggly shell is actually made by a saltwater worm..... called a Worm Shell

This last group of shells also contains a variety. Starting at the twelve o'clock position and going clockwise:

1. Spiny Jewel Box

2. Banded Tulip

3. Worm Shell

4. Horse Conch

5. Apple Murex

6. Nautilus

And finally, here is a picture looking down the beach while I was taking cover
from the heavy rainfall.

Hope you enjoyed the shells.
Southwest Florida is home to the only Shell Museum in the world. If you like seeing a large variety of shells, be sure to visit it on Sanibel Island.

Sincerely,
Sean Allen
President
International Financing Solutions
a division of Sean Allen, Inc.
Skype: sean.allen5
www.InternationalFinancingSolutions.com

Specializing in Development Financing Around the World

***The best way to reach me is via e-mail***

Get personalized, professional email like this.