Surprise on Shabbat

As you get older, "firsts" seem to have wider gaps between them. This afternoon I experienced a new "first". A lovely start to 2013.

My husband and I went for a long walk along a stretch of seashore just to the north of where we live. It is quite an affluent little village, and the village council (or someone else) has installed some very well made wooden seats at intervals along the beach. At the end of our walk, we perched on one of these seats and watched the waves and the island opposite.

Just as we were getting up, my husband put his hand on something on the seat. Thinking it was a pebble that someone had picked up and discarded, he was about to throw it onto the beach. Then he looked closer. It was a piece of beautiful driftwood. He turned it over in his hand and was stunned by what was on the reverse. Here it is.