Dana Point Dragon Fossils

Last week, I spent a great deal of time at Dana Point's Strand and Salt Creek beaches after work in the afternoons.  One of the surprising things I found, were the remnants of ancient dragons, buried in the sand along the point where Salt Creek turns into Strand Beach.

Perhaps it was because it was a very low tide that I was able to see these "little before seen" fossils... or maybe they washed ashore recently, from a briny depth during the recent storm.   I do not know.

When our son Nathan Jr was a very young child, just old enough to grasp language, and we would be driving along in one of our Hondas down I-65, I-74, I-75, I-40, or I-85 (the roads on which we spent a disproportionate amount of time traversing in the '90s), and I had been working at Michelin in their truck tire plant, whenever we'd see a separated truck tread on the side of the road, I would call out to Nathan Jr in his center-located car seat behind me "look son, the dragons were shedding their scales here last night!"  ... and amazed, he'd watch the KM rubber fragments on the shoulder as we passed them going 70mph.  They Did Sort Of look like dragon scales...  or old alligator tail scaled strands.

It wasn't until 2 years ago that I was driving with our son on an interstate and he pointed out several 'dragon scales' to me, and reminded me that when he was a very small child, he actually believed that the rubber fragments Really Were dragon scales.  I guess I was a bad dad.

I also taught him to sing "I want to pet you like an animal!" whenever Nine Inch Nails Closer can on the radio (or CD player).  ....maybe I was not so bad of a dad?