Meet Ulla, the sea urchin. I thought Ulla was a perfect name for such a pretty creation. In the movie The Producers, Uma Thurman plays the part of a Swedish secretary named Ulla and says, “Ven you got it, flaunt it.” Well... I think Ulla the sea urchin has it and is flaunting it.

I came across Ulla while we were walking along Schull Harbour. Shawn and Norah were looking for sea glass, Tadhg was looking for crabs, and I was looking for a latte. 

When I was a teenager, my parents took me to Mexico. While we were there, we took a boat to a small island with little to do but sit on the beach, eat too much, and drink. As a teenager, I was soon bored and set off to explore the rocks at the water’s edge. Being barefoot was my first mistake. Slipping on the rocks was my second mistake. Crushing a sea urchin with my foot was my third mistake.

The day ended with a bloody foot and a visit to the local doctor who painstakingly pulled countless sea urchin spines from my foot.