Thank you Tom for the comments on the COA convention.

I consider myself to be a rank beginner and so often only participate by
actively and avidly checking my e-mail for Conch-L postings.  I live in a
part of the world where my shelling activity is often lived only
vicariously.  The ocean next to my "hut" is still frozen on July 8, 1999,
and so I engage in the "real" activity of a conchologist by the daily
reading of these postings.

When there's a winter storm and the outside windchill is 100+ below zero (it
doesn't really matter if it's C or F at that level) and the ice is over 8
feet thick, when the requests and responses for the best shelling
opportunities and places to visit in the Canaries or the Philippines or
Miami come through on the list - I'm taken to a place in my mind that you
folks can only begin to appreciate.

My dream has become to actually visit a COA convention.  Hopefully the move
from Louisville to Houston is a westerly trend that will continue and soon
make it practical for the "frozen one" to finally associate names with faces
that, unknowingly, have provided so much assistance and support to a
beginner.

If nothing else, I truly hope that the COA convention provides the
enthusiasm for all those that regularly contribute to the Conch-L to
continue for yet another year.

In debt and gratitude

- Brooke





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