such a beautiful post on so many levels... it brings me a sense of sweet melancholy, because of how you recall your childhood fascination with shells... but also the shells themselves are a tale of life that was once part of it, leaving a permanent and mysterious beauty behind... its very 'zen'

I also love the parallel you draw between star-gazing and appreciating shells... I actually relate quite a bit to this fascination you have. I've also always had a fascination with the cosmos, the celestial bodies ever since my father got me all excited about lunar eclipses and meteor showers, also tell me about red giants and black holes... so even today I get excited when major cosmic events happen.

And now you got me shell-gazing all over google... :D