What is this??

There were a lot of these along the beach the other day. I've never seen them before but they're flexible and remind me of a section of a shell necklace. Someone I met said it was a living creature that, no matter how many times she washed and even bleached it, the smell was horrible. I thought it would be cute in a sea shadow box but disposed of them all after the smell warning.

Made it in time for the sunrise Sunday. Looked beautiful, until it didn't. Too much cloud cover so the sun never really emerged. The sun was out off and on during the day so it was a nice day. The 25-30 mph winds plus gusts hit in the evening. They continued all night and today. We pulled our slides in as a preventative to keep the slide covers from tearing.  Pat saw someone's topper this morning that looked like it had sustained some damage. We've seen others at times that have been rippeded to sheds.  Not cheap nor easy to replace. 

I went, or rather tried, to go for a beach walk Monday morning. Steady 30 mph winds with strong gusts. I flew the 1 1/2 miles up the beach, but I think it took an hour coming back straight into the wind and blowing sand. Pretty sure I collected 1/2 the beach sand on my person and it hurt when it hit. It's a south wind though so it's warm, 70's. I had sandals (with socks) and got caught in a few incoming waves, as I was searching for shells, but the water was warm too. 

The wind changes to the north tonight and remains just as strong through Weds. With the north winds temperatures drop tomorrow to the lower 60's. Forecast for the next few days? WINDY! 

Where are the Piepers now? South Padre Island, TX