What carries in the Gulf Stream...

Last week's topic for Tina's Picstory was "indoor" ...theme for this week "you can show *heart*"! I've posted about these sea beans before [link], as I've posted this photo before also. It's one that Bud found while we were combing the beach one day. It's the most 'perfect' form of heart that we've found as of yet. They're quite popular to collect, and seldom found on the beaches except for Spring months. Most often you see them into jewelry and women's belts...

"The Seaheart supposedly inspired Columbus to find new land in the west. The Gulf Stream carried sea-hearts to northern European beaches, where they were commonly made into snuff boxes by polishing, cutting them in half, and attaching little hinges. In the Azores, the sea-heart is called Fava de Colom (Columbus bean). The seaheart is often referred to as a Lucky Bean. Ed Perry states "In general, seeds have long been worn as good luck charms. Especially seeds that also double as "sea-beans" or driftseeds. For hundreds of years they have been seen as symbols of good luck, longevity, endurance, fertility, etc. Some of this is due to their ability to float ocean currents for years/decades before coming to rest on foreign shores (often with their powers of germination unimpeded). Other reasons may be due to their relative "rareness" on many beaches north of the Tropics. Entada seeds are revered world wide as good luck charms, and have been for centuries."

                      Sea Heart Bean [Entada gigas]

And, speaking of hearts:

A mechanic was removing the cylinder heads from the motor of a car, when he spotted the world-famous heart surgeon in his shop. The heart surgeon was standing off to the side, waiting for the service manager to come take a look at his car. The mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hello Doctor, please come on over here for a minute."

The famous surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic where he stood. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So doctor, look at this here. I also open hearts, take valves out, grind 'em, put in new parts, and when I finish this will work just like a new one. So how come you get the really big money, when you and I are doing basically the same work?" The doctor smiled, leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic

"Try doing it with the engine running!"