I edited the above and added so much, I though I'd better go on in a new post. The shell collection has other lead-ins I forgot to mention above.
I use the freshwater pearlbearing mussel shell as a reference point for mentioning how they are the "lungs" of the water they live in and how American rivers were once full of different species of pearl bearing mussels and now how many are endangered by polluted waters and/or already died off - which is why we buy our freshwater pearls from China!
I just try to pop a sentence in about a subject like this, just to plant a seed, it is too big a subject to get lost in a one time pearl teaching session, but it is really an important subject to me, so I mention it whenever possible- including in this thread!
