North Beach Treasures

Wintry Mix...

2011-11-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

There's not much beach combing around here... during the month of November.

I decided to brave the elements because I wanted to see what had washed up after recent storms, and today offered one of the few tiny windows of opportunity for a beach trip... with a slight dip in the tide level starting around 2:30pm... and continuing till dark, which occurs about 4:30 these days.

It has become rather wintry in the Northwest, over the past couple of weeks. Amazing fall foliage has given way to bare trees, cold rain and high winds. As I made may way to the parking lot by the beach, I didn't realize that it had also snowed a bit, overnight.

There are a lot of "microclimates" at the end of our peninsula. I have often seen it be completely dry at our house, only to find a day of pouring rain-- or snow-- in town, less than three miles away. Today it seemed like the central ridge got 1-2 inches of snow, while nowhere else did.

Being the weekend, there were lots of cars in the parking lot. However, I expect most of them belonged to people taking their dogs to the adjacent state park.

The tide was still very high as I set out-- only a narrow band of large rocks separated me from the waves... and it made going very slow. I think of this as an "ankle breaker" beach, and I did not look forward to making a 3.5 mile trek along that type of footing. And things did not improve. After about 15 minutes of slow going, I realized that the storms had not only "rearranged" the beach... but had also beaten the offshore kelp forests to bits, and now I found myself waking on large rocks covered with a six inch layer of slippery seaweed.

This didn't bode well for my day. Even if the retreating tide were to leave behind a decent expanse of beach, a thick layer of seaweed makes it all but impossible to get to any washed-up treasures. The fact that I was probably the only one beach combing today offered little consolation.

A large vibrant deep turquoise glass bead

Fortunately, my favorite stretch of beach-- which it took me almost two hours to reach-- was not entirely covered by seaweed. Sadly, though, the long time it had taken me to get there also meant that I had less than 90 minutes before I started to lose the light.

As the light fades, the darker colors become invisible first, and eventually the only thing you can make out are the clear pieces, which look a bit like moonstones in the semi-darkness. One exception to this is the fairly rare "vaseline glass," a pale lime green which seems almost "illuminated from within," in low light.

In the end, the findings of the day were fairly modest-- the storms had not turned up large volumes of new treasure, and I'm beginning to think that maybe this piece of beach has simply been "picked clean," largely as a result of the repeated "exposure" from newspaper articles. A "secret" doesn't remain a secret for very long if everyone knows about it-- if you know what I mean.

A few highlights of the day included a large bright turquoise oval bead (pictured above) in perfect condition-- with the hole intact and free of sand-- a nice find, and in a rare color. I also found a nice aquamarine "cat's eye" glass marble, a larger piece of pastel yellow (the only "rare" colored piece of the day) and a large (about 1 1/2" long) clear "egg" piece. I can only speculate as to its origins-- perhaps a finial or "knop" from some kind of glass serving dish? It was perfectly symmetrical, and in lovely frosted condition. Who says clear sea glass can't be interesting?!?!

The remainder of the day's finding were quite "ordinary" and now await sorting, at some future date. I had hoped to find more large pieces-- often the case after a storm-- but most pieces I saw were quite small, and uncommon colors were few and far between. There also seems to be a lot of damaged/chipped pieces-- which I always throw back, so they can "cook fully."

Of course, there is more to beach combing than merely "finding sea glass." I go for the exercise and fresh air, as well as for the cathartic and meditative qualities of being on the beach for several hours. As I turned around to head back home (around 4:00pm), I was treated to a beautiful winter sunset, and the sound of bald eagles in the treetops, settling in for the night.

It was quite dark by the time I made it back to the parking lot at 5:45. The last half hour was very slow going, not only because my legs were tired, but because the footing on softball sized rocks covered in wet seaweed-- in the dark-- was treacherous.

This will probably be the last (and only!) time I get to beach comb, this month. The tide/daylight combination is about at its most unfavorable for beach combing, at the moment. There will be a very small window of opportunity again at the beginning of December... and unless the weather is absolutely horrible, I will be out there, looking to sea what new treasures the ocean has washed up!

First Beach Trip of Fall

2011-10-06T23:12:00.000-07:00

Beach combing in the fall is seldom easy. I thought I'd share a bit of a "log" of today's outing, to explain a bit more what I mean by this time of the year being the "least friendly" time of the year to gather sea glass, around here.

Bright green marble from today's trip

I've been wanting to go on a beach combing trip, ever since the first couple of "good blows" have come through. During the summer, we ("we" being the regular beach combers around here and hundreds of tourists) sift through whatever can be found in the top couple of inches of material on the beach. Most days here are still, and there is very little wave action to churn up rocks and sand. As we approach mid-September, the pickings become extremely slim, as we all continue to look for "treasure" on an extremely overpicked beach.

Then-- by late September or early October-- the weather breaks. And for the first time in probably four months, the beach is pounded by some serious waves... serious enough that the entire topography of the beach changes, and sand, pebbles and glass that have been buried two feet deep are brought to the surface.

Alas, October also means that low tide occurs at 5:00 in the morning, when it's pitch black outside. So... what's a beach comber to do?

The alarm rings at 5:00am. I make coffee, and get myself ready to go. Outside, the sky is heavy with low clouds, but the rain of last night seems to have abated. Still, I'm not counting on a dry day.

At 5:50am, I'm out the door. Five minutes later, I'm at the parking lot by the beach. It is still completely dark.

Beach combing is almost a "competitive sport" around these parts. As I walk across the parking lot, I see a car that has just pulled up and a couple of people with flashlights are getting ready for their day. There's another car already parked, and I wonder if it was left overnight-- but a quick touch of the hood, which is warm, tells me it was driven recently. Whomever it belongs to is already out there, ahead of me. At 5:50 in the morning...

A good day at the beach!

It's about a four mile walk across rocky uneven terrain, loose rocks up to the size of basketballs and piles of seaweed to just get to "the good bits" where I like to beach comb. For most people, that means a two hour trek... in broad daylight, in favorable conditions. In darkness...

... I make it in about 50 minutes, and thank my background as a former competitive distance runner and sometime race walker for being able to move fast. A few times I almost lose my footing, skidding on seaweed on wet rocks; not seeing a log; bumping into a boulder in the darkness. About two-thirds of the way out, I pass the fellow with the "other car" in the parking lot... one of the "usual suspects" on this stretch of beach.

The tide is already on its way in. It will only be a dark gray pre-dawn by the time I reach my favorite stretch of beach... and I will have to turn around within just a couple of hours and almost run the four miles back in order to not get caught by the rising tide. There is no "land access" from the beach I go to; no place where you can "park the car above" and hike to... only a vertical wall of banks, some 200-400 feet high... so keeping an eye on tides and time is essential for safety's sake. Sure, there are places where you can wait out a high tide (and I have done that) but sitting for six hours on a cold wet rock is not my idea of how to spend a Thursday evening.

In low light, clear is the first color you can see. Other colors require full daylight before they gradually become visible. By about 7:45, it is finally daylight and I can begin searching in earnest. It looks like it will be a good day! Not only does the beach have a nice cover of pea-sized gravel mixed with small rocks, it is very clear that the recent storms have turned over the "stale" leftovers of summer... I can tell because the scattering of small mostly chipped pieces of glass I've been looking at for the past couple of months have been replaced with more smooth-- and larger-- pieces of sea glass. And that makes this mad-dash-out-and-home a worthwhile endeavor.

A large and thick nugget of red-- find of the day!

I never stop moving, because time is scant. The glass is good, although it turns out to be one of those days where I seem to find a lot, but no "great rarities." The best finds of the day are four sea glass marbles-- on most days I'd be fortunate to fine one or two-- and an exceptional "nugget" of bright red. Whereas I do find red seaglass, the pieces are usually fairly small and thin-- this piece is larger (about 7/8" long) and quite thick and rounded, like a large jellybean or gum drop. I wonder what it was once part of, since red was rarely used for objects that required "a lot of glass." Art glass, perhaps?

In the end, I get in just over two hours of fairly intense beach combing before the tide reaches a point where I--reluctantly-- have to leave. Not a moment too soon... I make it back to the parking lot with dry feet... just. There have been a number of major slides in the past year, and in some places I have to climb over fallen trees and large piles of ancient clay.

I once wore a GPS device, while going beach combing. On a day like today-- counting the hikes in and out, as well as all the criss-crossing that goes with beach combing-- I probably covered about 13-14 miles (21-22km) in total. Tired legs are the order of the remainder of the afternoon. On the whole, it's not the distance that's exhausting, but the extensive traversing piles of gravel (a bit like walking in deep snow) or soccer ball sized rocks covered with fresh wet seaweed (incredibly slippery) that takes it out of my legs.

From here until mid-December, the tides here will only get "shorter." In another month or so, there will barely be a couple of hours of semi-low tide during daylight hours.

Waning Tides of Fall

2011-09-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

It seems almost funny, to be speaking of fall, already.

It's September 15th, and we hardly had any summer in the Northwest, this year. A little bit of dry weather and sunshine started in August, and seemed to run out a few days ago.

A large shard of milk glass from a recent trip

Fall is the least "friendly" season for beach combers around here, at least as far as favorable tides go. As we progress towards October and November, low tide opportunities during daylight hours become few and far between. This is not only due to the shorter days and the (eventual) arrival of Daylight Saving time... but also due to the moon's annual migration in our skies.

Just like the best tides-- in terms of low tides during the day-- occur in late spring and very early summer, so the worst tides occur in late fall. Typically, November beach combing involves a mad dash down the high water line at a couple of hours before sunset, to enjoy maybe 90 minutes where the water level drops slightly... followed by an hour long trudge home in darkness.

Of course, this assumes beaches like the ones I frequent, where it takes up to 90 minutes to even get to the "good spots."

Still, I don't let it put me off. Being on the beach is a form of therapy and meditation for me, even when time is short. And-- of course-- the waning tides of fall just represent the turning of the year... and serves as a reminder that there will be longer days ahead. By the end of January, it will once again be possible to spend a couple of hours at my favorite spots...

When the Beach Gets Picked Over

2011-08-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

The nice thing about beach combing in the summer is that the weather is typically nice-- even here in the Pacific Northwest. The not-so-nice thing is that the beaches around here are frequented considerably by the tourist trade, and by mid-August (where we are now) the beach is pretty picked over. Add to that that it has been months and months since there last was a good storm to churn things up, and you end up with long trips to the beach yielding not very impressive results.

Sea Glass marbles from today's beach trip

Today, we spent 6 1/2 hours out there, trudging some 12 miles, all in all. Apart from three fairly nice marbles (better than "usual"), there was really not much to write home about.

It always gives me a bit of a sinking feeling to go to the beach and have a day like this one. It makes me think of the way genuine sea glass is a "dwindling resource," and I wonder whether the winter storms will really "refresh" the beach, this coming year-- or "has it all been found," already? Of course, I have wondered that for years and years...

I did manage to pick up a pretty stout sunburn on the back of my neck-- sleeping will be less than comfortable tonight! Reminds me a bit of my childhood-- my parents were eternal "sun chasers" and I had very fair skin (still do) that would burn to a crisp. So they would be out in the sun on some tropical beach, baking, while I'd sit-- fully clothed and sweating-- under the nearest shade tree I could find.

I expect I will not be going a lot onto the beach till late fall. Since we will be moving in September, I will have other things to occupy my time. Still, if I can squeeze in a few shorter trips I will-- since walking on the beach largely serves as a meditation for me.

Always Organizing Sea Glass

2011-07-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

I am home in the Pacific Northwest, after 3+ weeks in Europe.

Before we went on vacation, I'd been working on organizing my stock/accumulation/collection of sea glass. It has been a major project, since I have been keeping 40-odd years' worth of glass in about six separate locations, according to six previous ideas of what the "best way" to organize would be.

The result?

Chaos.

Since I don't just collect sea glass for myself, but also sell glass to artists and collectors, at least a minimal degree of organization has become important.

This recent organizational effort arose because I grew increasingly impatient with myself when people would send me email and ask me things like: "since you sell sea glass, do you have any such-and-such glass?" and my only real answer would be "I am really not sure, I'll have to check my stock."

Maybe that's a fair enough response, but "checking my stock" had become a major project.

Many moons ago, I had a gift shop. Whenever we got a request and were not sure if we had the item in stock-- and had to spend time searching-- we used to joke that we'd "started the black hole clock." Time counted off on the black hole clock was the wasted time we spent, looking for something we should have been able to find, right away. Sometimes the "clock" would run for just a few minutes... at other times, it would run for days, as several people wasted their time looking for something "we all remembered" to be somewhere in the stock room.

My black hole clock has been running far too often.

Hence the need to reorganize.

Maybe I will never be perfectly organized, and maybe such a thing is not even possible. But at least I would like to be able to respond to inquiries with some degree of confidence and promptness.

Sea Glass in Denmark

2011-06-28T23:40:00.001-07:00

This June, I have been visiting my native Denmark, for the first time in seven years.

Although I didn't exactly start my interest in beach combing on these shores, Denmark is the place where I had most access to the beach, for the greatest number of years.

Sea glass is relatively uncommon in Denmark, at least in the areas where I have looked. Denmark's social policy of environmental awareness is quite old, so it has been a long time since much glass was discarded on the shores, here. In addition, most glass bottles in Denmark have had a hefty deposit for more than 50 years (when I was little, one of the ways we'd make extra money was to search the side of the road and garbage cans for empties), further discouraging the trashing of glass containers.

Most Danish sea glass is either clear, brown, or a shade of olive that has been used for beer bottles here for almost a century. What we think of as common ("Heineken") green is relatively scarce here. Seafoam is also scarce. Any other colors are extremely difficult to find.

Surprisingly, sea glass is not very common (or very nice) around Copenhagen, even though it's a major population center. Copenhagen sits on a narrow strait and the beaches are generally a very fine powdery sand (few rocks) as a result of which there is neither enough wave action or good abrading material to create nicely rounded sea glass.

All that said, I have enjoyed walking along the shores of my childhood, thinking about days gone by. As a testament to the relative scarcity of sea glass in Denmark, the picture above is all the glass I have found on three trips to the beach.

Two Years Later

2011-05-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a couple of years since Memorial Day 2009.

I remember that day because it was the first major holiday weekend following a large article in the Seattle Times about sea glass. Of course, I had no objections to an article about sea glass... I just had objections to a couple of people's decisions to openly disclose the best beaches on which to look for sea glass to the newspaper readership in a metro area with some 3 1/2 million people.

Those who so openly shared this information should have known better, although I suspect they simply did so in service of being "open and forthcoming" about our wonderful hobby... but forgetting the possible impact of their words.

I could also blame the reporter for writing about the way "people make money on eBay" from selling sea glass... but people of the press are generally about telling the story and rarely possess the ethical fibre necessary to think through to the lasting impact of their words. The typical argument is that "today's paper will line tomorrow's bird cage." Whereas I personally see that as an "abdication of accountability," I don't care to get into a deeper philosophical debate about it.

I was interviewed for that same article, but I very carefully chose to speak only of sea glass and its origins... and in spite of being "prodded," staunchly declined to share where I'd found anything. I ran a retail business for 13 years... I've dealt with the press, in the past.

Any resource that is "overharvested" (be it the clear cutting of old-growth forests, strip mining or telling millions of people where to find sea glass) suffers lasting damage, and we ALL lose.

Two years have passed.

The crowds that descended on the beach-- in large numbers-- during that summer (and to a lesser degree for another 18 months) have mostly disappeared.

Sadly, so has most of the sea glass.

Of course, there is still glass there, but I'd estimate about a quarter the amount that used to be there. The rare colors seem more affected; the common browns and clears are still there... although a higher proportion are chipped-- the "common rejects" that were thrown back.

I definitely still enjoy my walks on the beach, but makes me a little sad. I know for a fact that this particular stretch of beach was frequented by collectors since the 1960's, and all was well, for almost 50 years. Then, in less than two years, the "resource" was decimated.

What makes me sad is less the lack of glass to be found, than the manifestation of human greed.

Sea Glass Photo Albums

2011-01-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

I have been considering how to create a kind of online encyclopedia of sea glass, based on the many photographs of sea glass I have accumulated over the years. I've been sharing photos with collectors for a very long time, and have often heard things like "Oh, you should publish those!" or "why don't you create a book?"

Truth is, it would be nice to have an online reference of different sea glass colors and unusual pieces. There have been times when I could have used a reference, myself, when I have found something unusual.

For the moment, Flickr seems like the most useful option, as a lot of people already have accounts, and it would be relatively easy to organize the photos by color. In addition, people can view basic Flickr photo collections without having to have a Yahoo or Flickr membership.

I currently have more than 10,000 photographs of sea glass, most of them close-ups of individual pieces, in almost every color imaginable. These include a lot unusual rarities and unique pieces, including my collection of sea glass marbles.

Of course, this will very much be a "labor of love" and will probably take months-- if not years-- to complete. I just doing what often helps me get a project rolling: making a public commitment to the idea.

A Fresh Start

2011-01-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

This past year has not lent itself much to beach combing. The seemingly endless travel, tumultuous personal situation and various other things seemed to largely relegate "fun stuff" to a back seat role.

This is not exactly a "New Year's Resolution," but I am hoping that 2011 will be a calmer year... a year in which my own path forward will be less entangled in "Other People's Issues."

Of course, there are not so many good tides for beach combing, in the winter... but come mid-January, there might be a few late afternoons I can get out there.

Looking at Colors: Red

2010-01-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

For many sea glass lovers, "finding a piece of red sea glass" can be the highlight of a beach combing trip. For some, it can even be the highlight of the entire year, or an entire beach combing career.

Red is, indeed, both very rare and quite beautiful-- and it is perhaps this combination of scarcity and beauty that makes it particularly sought after. But just to "put the record straight," though-- Red is NOT "the rarest sea glass color." That said, it is commonly estimated that a beach comber will have to pick up between 3000 and 5000 pieces of sea glass to find one piece of red. In addition, red glass (due to its chemical composition) tends to be "softer" and more "brittle" than many other colors of glass, and thus even when a collector does find a piece of red, the piece is often quite small, and not necessarily in nice smoothly frosted condition.

So, what's the story with red glass?

For starters, red simply isn't a color that has been used very often, for commercial glassware. There are a couple of reasons for this: Red glass is costly to make, and difficult to work with. And, ultimately, "difficult to work with" also drives up the cost of making red glass objects.

As I have written in other posts, colored glass is typically the result of adding metals and minerals (in oxide and chloride-- powder-- form) to sand and silica mix that is glass before it is molten. The simplest way to obtain a medium to deep red glass color is by adding gold-- in powder form. And, at $100s per ounce, this has generally not been an economically viable proposition for glass manufacturers. As often as not, when we run into red glass in an antique store, it is more likely to be "art" glass than manufacturer production glass.

Because of the cost of using gold, alternatives have been explored. Most successfully, highly purified iron and cupric oxide has been used. However, new challenges arose.

Some years ago, I was proprietor of an art gallery, and one of our specialties was blown art glass from small studios and individual artists. In the course of ten years or so, I got to know a lot of glass blowers-- and often noticed the absence of deep red glass in their work.

Knowing that there were alternatives to using gold for red glass, I asked "why no red?" And learned that even though there are non-gold options to make red glass, they can only be used in extremely controlled furnace environments. The raw materials have to be extremely pure and highly processed-- and that quickly becomes expensive. One glass artist described red glass as "too temperamental," explaining that he could make a "pot" of red glass, but if the furnace got just 10 degrees too hot he'd "end up with brown soup." Keep in mind what it might take to calibrate in 10-degree increments in the context of glass having a melting point of 2700 degrees Fahrenheit. I also learned that red glass-- in its molten state-- is extremely corrosive and damages the "pots" used in the furnaces, meaning that they have to be replaced more often than when working with most other colors.

As an example (again, returning to my days at the art gallery), in 1987 major Finnish glass manufacturer iittala decided to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their world famous "Aalto" glass vase by making a special limited edition in deep red. The original intent was that the edition size was to be 1000 signed and numbered pieces worldwide. After extensive experimentation and numerous failures, the edition size was cut short to just one hundred pieces, due to "manufacturing difficulties."

Red sea glass, as beach combers might find it, comes from a very limited number of sources. Some can be traced to automotive tail lights and lenses from warning lamps and ships' lanterns-- most often, these pieces have some kind of texture on one side, put their to increasing the reflectivity of the lens. A small amount comes from Victorian- to Depression-era production and decorative glass, with a few other pieces coming from decorative art glass. Finally, a tiny amount of commercially produced red glass (most often made by Anchor-Hocking in the 1950's) might show up "locally" in various parts of the US, for example from one particular type of Schlitz beer made during the 50s. In all cases, very limited quantities were made... and red was often the color chosen for various "special" or "limited edition" objects.

As an interesting aside, red glass was often used as "tiny accents." For example, when I look at sea glass "objects" such as buttons or beads (which in and of themselves are rare to find), red is a relatively "common" occurrence. Perhaps a full one-quarter of the sea glass beads I have found have been red... but it's very much a "relative" thing, as the chances of finding any sea glass bead is maybe 1-in-2000! Although beads are not exactly rare, most are never picked up because of their tiny size-- beach combers see a piece of glass less than 1/4" in diameter and think "why bother?" not realizing that the tiny round piece has a hole through it, making it a miniature treasure.

"Cranberry Glass" as sea glass

I am occasionally asked why there is not more "cranberry glass" found as sea glass. People point out that when you go to an antique mall (for example) there is far more cranberry glass-- essentially a "pinkish/purplish" red-- than pure red glass. Most likely, the answer lies in how glass is used, and how we-- as "consumers"-- treat the glass we have around us. Whereas cranberry glass was made on a fairly large scale during the first half of the 20th century, it mostly was made into decorative objects. As such, relatively little of it was actually broken, and subsequently very little of it found its way to trash dumps. The same is true of colors such a deep amethyst and bright orange, which was used for decorative objects but is extremely rare as sea glass. Think about it, for a moment: If you chip a glass canning jar, what happens? You throw it away. If you chip your favorite cranberry glass vase, what happens? Unless it's seriously broken, you probably try to fix it. Or leave it out, with the chip facing the wall...

The bottom line is that most sea glass-- probably 99% of it-- comes from commercial glassware. That is, glassware that "contained" something, and/or was "used" for something... after which its utility ended, and it was discarded.

Whatever its origins, red glass is definitely a "treasure" for a sea glass collector, as well as for the few jewelry artists who are bold enough to use it in their work.

To see more photos of red sea glass (and I have many!), please visit my Red Sea Glass Photo Album on Flickr.

The Ebbs and Flows of Life on the Beach

2009-12-20T19:22:00.000-08:00

For the past few months, I have spent much less time on the beach than I could wish for. And I have spent much less time "playing with my glass," than I could wish for. In more ways than one.

Beach combing has always been a catharsis-- the beach and the sea have healing properties for me. Maybe that's not true for everyone... however, I start feeling a bit "disconnected" from the world, if I am away from the beach for too long.

Sarah (my honey) recently commented "You really should get a web site going, for your sea glass." We've talked about it, for a long time... a place to write about sea glass and its origins, and showcase some of my sea glass photography. I already have the site "reserved;" I already have this blog. But getting it done has become yet another thing I "wish I had the time for." Although I don't really do "New Year's Resolutions," definitely something I would like to get to, in 2010.

It seems that not only do the tides of the beach ebb and flow, often LIFE itself ebbs and flows. The "stuff of life" has been keeping me somewhat away from my photography and beach combing.

The aftermath of my mom dying (she lived overseas) in August has been time consuming. Making a living in a depressed economy has been time consuming. Dealing with some personal stuff in my life has been time consuming. Creating the "platform" for a better future has been time consuming.

Aside from "tides of life," the beach itself has been "ebbing and flowing," too. Mostly, it has been ebbing.

An article in the Seattle Times (which reaches close to a million people) back in May offered a lot of exposure to sea glass, but unfortunately gave all but "perfect directions" to a piece of beach previously only known to a limited number of hardy enthusiasts. Of course the beach is public property, and I recognize that-- but "over use" of ANY resource is never a good thing; regardless of whether we're talking about fishing, mining, or collecting sea glass.

On one day during this past summer, I counted ONE HUNDRED people on a stretch of beach where I used to perhaps see a single person, every few hours. Many were not "beach combing." They were there with buckets and rakes and shovels and coolers and "manpower," like they were trying to run a "strip mining" operation on the beach.

I take a small amount of solace in knowing that I was not the person who told the journalist where I usually beach comb. His wife beach combs there, too. I wonder if she's as disappointed as I am...

This all brings me to ponder the ebbs and flows of life, again-- and how "a secret" stops being "a secret" when EVERYone knows about it. That amazing hamburger joint around the corner gets featured in the Sunday paper, as a result of which their "amazing" hamburgers become "mediocre" because they have to assembly line mass produce them.

The landscape of the beach changes, too. I mostly beach comb at the base of tall escarpments made up of sediment from the last ice age. These (sometimes 300 feet high) slopes are largely made up of compressed sand and clay, and the erosion and slope collapses have been extensive during the past 12 months-- which means a layer of fresh 10,000-year old sand is laid on top of the material/rocks that contained much more recent material... including sea glass. People often think it is heavy storms that bring down the slopes-- more often it is heavy rains followed by a hard freeze. The water gets into the ground, near the top, expands when it subsequently freezes, and cracks start to form. Eventually, a chunk of compressed sand the size of an apartment building gives way and lands on the beach, changing the topography of everything as the sea and tides eat away at it.

As some wise person once observed: "The only constant in life is change."

Sea Glass Auctions on eBay: Closing July 26th

2009-07-20T19:13:00.001-07:00

New auctions with sea glass and pottery have just been listed on eBay!

Nice selection to choose from, with 65 lots available. You'll find a mixture of individual collector pieces, as well a jewelry and "bulk" lots for making glass mosaics.

Current auctions end on Sunday, July 26th, starting at 7:00pm US Pacific time/10:00pm Eastern time. All items are listed with a buy-it-now price, for those who'd like to purchase right away. The buy-it-now does go away, once the first bid has been placed.

Shown here: A very large and perfectly frosted piece of deep greenish aquamarine sea glass-- uncommonly deep color, and in super condition. Worthy of any collection, OR would make a beautiful pendant!

Click here to go look at the auctions!

I appreciate your interest!

Overexposure: When publicity is not a good thing

2009-07-17T08:55:00.000-07:00

Sea glass is enjoying a wave of popularity, these days. A couple of decades ago, sea glass collectors were just "random scattered hobbyists" around the globe-- in recent we have become "organized." We have web sites, online communities for collectors and artists, we have an "Association," we even have "conventions." Frankly? I think it's wonderful! It doesn't get much better than when we can share and enjoy something with like-kind spirits.

However, with "organization" and "popularity" also come the troubles of "exposure," along with the dangers of OVER-exposure. It's difficult to pass a "value judgment" on this... but I liken it a bit to the process of a "small town" growing into a "city." Regardless of whether you think of it as GOOD or BAD, the fact remains that without some form of "careful management," you suddenly have traffic jams, urban sprawl; strip malls and the local hardware store is replaced with a Wal-Mart supercenter.

An article ran in the Seattle Times back in early May, and it provided a lot of exposure to sea glass. On the surface, a good thing, but unfortunately the article also gave pretty much "perfect directions" to a remote stretch of beach previously only known to a limited number of hardy enthusiasts.... willing to trudge 3-4 miles across gravel and rocks to get there. How things have changed. On Memorial Day, I counted ONE HUNDRED people on a stretch of beach where I used to see a single person, every few hours. That is, 100 people before I simply gave up and went home. Over July 4th weekend, a similar scenario... I didn't even get on the beach, after seeing how many cars were in the parking lot (and up the adjacent street).

The sad thing is that many of these folks were not "beach combing." They were "exhibit A" of the ugly trait of "human greed." They were there with buckets and rakes and shovels and coolers and "manpower," like they were trying to run a "strip mining" operation on the beach. They'd hike in with a cooler of soda and beer, and then hike out, using the cooler as a storage container.

I take a small amount of comfort in knowing that I was not the one who told the journalist where I usually beach comb. I take less comfort in carrying out a trash bag full of empty beer bottles and cans that littered the beach, a few days later.

Things come and go, in life-- and "a secret" stops being "a secret" when EVERYone knows about it. A friend (online) and fellow beach comber (and jewelry artist) stays pretty philosophical about it... pointing to the impermanence of things. She depends on sea glass to make her jewelry, with which the makes her living... and I admire her ability to stay neutral in the face of possibly using the primary raw material for her livelihood.

I've been around "collectible" hobbies most of my life, and I have seen the aftereffects of overexposure. The problem isn't about whether "people make money," it's about the level of overall enjoyment people derive from the hobby. Thousands flocked to stamp collecting when someone pointed out that stamps were "a good investments." But when it turned out the "big deal" was no longer there when everybody was involved, the newcomers left in disgust. However, during the "chaos years" many old-timers also left in disgust, when their once peaceful hobby had suddenly become chaotic and very expensive. The net result was that overexposure shrank the hobby, in the longer term..

And THAT is what worries me, when I look at sea glass collecting and its growing popularity.

The Rising Popularity of Sea Glass

2009-04-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

There is little doubt in my mind that sea glass is pretty popular. When I think of all the beach houses I have visited that had jars of seaglass in the window sills, and the people I've met while wandering the sea shore, I realize that collecting sea glass has wide appeal.

I've been collecting for 40+ years (since I was a little kid, basically) and I certainly realize that I am "not alone" out there, when I am beach combing. It surprises me sometimes, though, just HOW many people are familiar with sea glass.

I thought perhaps my perspective was skewed by my involvement in the growing sea glass "community" on the web. For example, I belong to a couple of online communities for sea glass enthusiasts, each with more than 1000 members, all interested in the same thing. Similarly, I have been a seller of sea glass on eBay for a few years... over the years, at least 500 different people have bought something from me.

That said, I increasingly notice sea glass in the news, and in the media. Whether it's a Travel Channel documentary, or snippets on late night talk shows, a surprising number of people seem familiar with sea glass. In fact, I was recently interviewed by a local writer putting together articles about beachcombing/sea glass for the Seattle Times Sunday magazine. The writer's wife is an avid collector and lives here in my town.

However, the degree to which awareness of sea glass is "in public view" really struck me recently, when I decided to add a sea glass "album" to my pictures I have posted on social networking site Facebook. Now, with the exception of maybe a handful, none of my Facebook friends know me in connection with ANYthing to do with beach combing and sea glass.

And yet?

As soon as I started posting photos of sea glass, I also started getting comments from all over the place... from people I've known for years and years... and whom, it turns out, also collect sea glass.

I think it's wonderful how this pastime/hobby of ours ties folks together, from all walks of life. If you haven't mentioned sea glass to your friends, you might be surprised at how many of them are also collectors....

North Beach Treasures Sea Glass Shop on Etsy

2009-01-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

As of the 1st of January this year, I have started a new venture to share some of the sea glass I find with collectors and artists around the world.

Although Etsy is probably best knows as a place to find handmade goods of many different kinds, the site also has an area where people can sell supplies-- in this case, I have started a small online "shop" to offer jewelry quality sea glass from the Pacific Northwest.

This will include both "lots" with multiple pieces in specific colors and sizes, as well as individual pieces for jewelry and art-- or just for a sea glass collection.

I hope you'll take a moment to stop by my new show, to see what's there!

North Beach Treasures Sea Glass on Etsy

Looking at colors: Kelly Green

2008-08-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

Green sea glass-- alternately referred to as "common" green, "Kelly green" or sometimes "Heineken green"-- is the third most common color in sea glass collecting.

Although quite a common color, it is actually also fairly "new", when it comes to collecting sea glass. Green, as a color for sea glass collecting, comes in a great many different shades some of which can be extremely rare. Most sea glass experts and collectors limit the "distinct and named" shades to about 6-7, but I have identified close to 30 distinct (repeating) shades of green in my own collection.

If you examine antique (100+ years old) green glass , you'll find that most of it comes either in very bluish or olive green shades. The "pure" kelly green we typically find on beaches today has mostly been mass produced during the past 60-70 years, most often for beer and soda bottles-- it is more common in some countries than others.

To see more pictures of green sea glass, please visit my Green Sea Glass Photo Album on Flickr!

Looking at Colors: Brown

2008-06-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

Along with clear and kelly green, brown is one of the three "common" sea glass colors. Common is a relative term, of course-- but this color can be found on most beaches around the world. That said, it was quite uncommon on the beaches of Denmark (where I grew up) because 99% of beer and soda bottles there were green, rather than brown.

A large and thick nugget of brown sea glass

In the US and most other countries, the majority of brown sea glass comes from beer bottles. Thicker pieces generally come from older glassware-- in the US, Clorox bottles used to be made of dark brown glass; a practical matter as chlorine in photosensitive and tends to lose its potency when exposed to light. For this reason, quite a few other cleansers and chemicals were put into brown bottles-- it was also a relatively inexpensive color to manufacture. Brown was also used for medicine containers. Growing up in Denmark, I remember various pills from my mom's medicine cabinet would be housed in dark brown jars.

Brown sea glass actually comes in a number of different shades, ranging from "almost black" to amber. The paler shades tend to be scarcer. There are practical reasons for this: the brown color is obtained by adding iron oxide to the glass "batch," and the more is added, the more durable the glass becomes. Collectors generally find that any large pieces of brown also tend to be darker colors. The true "honey" or "mustard" colored amber sea glass is very rare in larger sizes. The difference between golden/honey amber and brown glass can fairly easily be seen when you hold each color up to the light, side by side.

As stated at the beginning of this post, brown sea glass is fairly common. I'd estimate that for every 100 pieces of sea glass I find (US beaches) about 20-25 will be some form of brown.

Because most brown tends to be somewhat dark and often looks "blackish" away from strong light, this color is rarely used by artists and jewelers for their creations. That said, it can be very pretty when used for framed art to be hung in a window, backed by natural light. The pieces in the photo at left are mostly smaller (1/2" or less) and are shown here in bright sunshine-- where they show in a more vibrant and "warm" color.

To see pictures of more pieces of brown sea glass, please visit my Brown Sea Glass Photo Gallery on Flickr!

How is that POSSIBLE??

2008-04-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, I receive slightly "accusatory" letters (emails) from sea glass collectors. Usually, they have recently looked at my sea glass sales listings and have concluded that I "must be selling fake sea glass."

The reason?

They insist that it's "not possible" for me to have as much high quality sea glass-- and in rare colors, to boot-- as I have. At least, it's "not possible" if the sea glass was actually "real."

Of course, all my sea glass is "real." What is missing from the equation is a sense of perspective.

I live near the beach. As the crow flies, the ocean is about 100 yards from my back porch.

I beach comb... a lot. Because I am self-employed, and my work is not dependent on "business hours," I could pretty much beach comb every single day, if I wanted to. As it is, I'm probably on the beach 150-200 days a year.

Beach combing isn't a "short stroll" for me. Many of my outings cover 15 miles over 10 hours... or more.

I've been beach combing since I was a child. 45 years, give or take a few. Not everything I offer for sale was found "recently."

So let's say-- for example's sake-- that I find 10 pieces of sea glass per hour. A lot of collectors can look at that and say "Yeah, I find that on MY beach, too!"

Then, let's extrapolate: That's 100 pieces in a 10-hour day. Or-- conservatively speaking-- fifteen thousand pieces a year. Now, let's extend that and just talk about the last 25 years of my adult life... that becomes four hundred and fifty thousand pieces of glass! Keep in mind, I didn't start seriously trading/selling till 2007-- so many of those years I simply "accumulated" glass, common and rare.

I hope this post doesn't come across as sounding too defensive. I just wanted to illustrate that it's all a matter of perspective. If your perspective is that you beach comb once or twice a month during the summer, for about an hour each trip, then of course it seems like I have an "unreasonable amount" of sea glass.

As for the rare colors, I am fortunate to live in a place that has had an active seaport since the 1850's, so all colors of "old" glass can be found here... which is not generally true of places that are "newer" population centers.

Looking at Colors: Clear

2008-03-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

Clear (sometimes called "white," although this is a misdescription) is the most common sea glass color. For every 100 pieces of sea glass found-- on pretty much any beach around the world-- it's a good bet that half or more will be clear. This is not really surprising, if you stop to consider just how many containers and other objects are made out of clear glass.

Piece of clear sea glass from old insulator

Most people who have walked on a beach and looked down have probably come across a piece of clear sea glass. Once the glass has been rolled about in surf and salt water for many years, gets a soft almost luminous glow-- hence clear sea glass has sometimes been called "ocean moonstones." Another popular term for sea glass is "Mermaid tears," and I feel pretty sure this name originally came into use in association with clear sea glass.

Clear sea glass is often overlooked and dismissed as "boring," on account of its lack of color. This is a bit unfair, as the variety of objects originally made with clear glass is vast, and there's no telling what might turn up. Over the years I have found Victorian era doorknobs, cabinet and drawer pulls, bottle stoppers, intact handles from small pitchers, pieces of laboratory glass, security glass, window glass and many many pieces with writing on them, along with all sorts of other unusual items.

The shown piece-- which is about 1 1/2 inches across-- shows the clear lines from the threads of an old glass electric insulator. Such large thick and frosted pieces are actually somewhat uncommon-- I was very happy to find this piece washed up on the beach, after a winter storm.

To have a look at some of the many and varied types of clear sea glass, visit my Clear Sea Glass Photo Gallery on Flickr!

New Seaglass Auctions Ending Saturday, February 16th

2008-02-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

Although it is still cold around these parts, there are signs that spring is just around the corner, here in Western Washington. Just this morning, I noticed that the first spring crocuses were starting to bloom.

Spring means more "friendly" tides for sea glass collecting, and I look forward to starting a new season of beach combing. There have been some good large storms this winter, which means the landscape of the beach has been changed considerably, and some of the gravel (and sea glass) that once was several feet below grade has been brought to the surface. There are upsides and downsides to this-- the downside being that the rough surf (unfortunately) tends to put fresh breaks and chips into a lot of the glass.

In the meantime, I have been sorting more glass from the bins in the office-- mostly saved items from last year's beach trips. Yesterday (Saturday) I finished listing about 100 new lots on eBay, including both "bulk lots" chosen for jewelry and mosaics, as well as individual collector pieces and rarities. As always, auction lots are open to bidding, or items can be purchased immediately, using eBay's "buy it now" feature.

The current series of auctions are scheduled to close on the evening of Saturday, February 16th. At the request of a number of people, sales now close at one minute interval, allowing more ready participation for those who enjoy "live" bidding. In addition, I am hoping to add some new lots to store inventory by the beginning if this coming week.

Some highlights from the current group of auctions are shown here. This time there are some particularly nice REDS, as well as pink, turquoise, orange and other scarce colors. I am also offering a couple of very large "bulk" type lots with 100s of pieces.

eBay Sea Glass Auctions closing Monday, February 4th

2008-01-29T12:56:00.000-08:00

It has been cold-- even snowy-- in Western Washington, so my beach combing has been limited. I may be quite "dedicated," but 27 degrees and windy is NOT my favorite kind of weather for going to the beach.

Instead, I have spent the last couple of weeks sorting two gallon sized (yes, I said GALLON) pickle jars full of unsorted seaglass from the last couple of years. The result is a new series of sea glass auctions, as well as many new items in the North Beach Treasures eBay store.

This time, I have listed over 110 new lots, including both "groups" chosen for jewelry and mosaics, as well as individual collector pieces and rarities. As always, auction lots are open to bidding, or items can be purchased immediately, using "buy it now." The current series of auctions are scheduled to close on the evening of Monday, February 4th.

Some highlights from the current group of auctions are shown alongside. There is a very nice representation of rare colors in the current set, including several shades of ultra rare ORANGE sea glass. Orange is widely regarded as the single rarest color in sea glass collecting, and many collectors will beachcomb for a lifetime, and never find a single piece.

Sea Glass Auctions: Group 1

2008-01-17T12:22:00.000-08:00

My first group of seaglass auctions for 2008 are now listed on eBay!

North Beach Treasures auction listings

I like to group the glass together the way actual brick-and-mortar auctioneers do, so there are multiple "lots" all being offered with approximately the same end time.

The first sale of 2008 has a total of 30 lots, including both some individual better pieces that might be of interest to collectors, as well as some nice "groupings" that are more offered for jewelry makers or crafts people.

The highlight of the sale is the nice piece of bright turquoise, pictured above. Genuine turquoise is one of the rarest of all seaglass colors, and eludes many collectors, even if they have walked the beach for many years. Along with orange, turquoise tends to be the highest priced color in the collector market. A fairly large flawless piece of turquoise seaglass sold for $176.00 on eBay, in early 2007. On the rare occasions when high quality shards of this color are offered, the prices tend to reach $50+ very quickly.

Winter Sea Glass Collecting

2008-01-10T09:28:00.000-08:00

First post of 2008. Happy New Year!

If you live in the northern hemisphere, collecting sea glass in the winter can be somewhat of a challenge. Not only are you dealing with a high likelihood of inclement weather, but the days are short and typically the highest tides are during daylight hours, and the low tides occur in the middle of the night.

I went to the beach exactly twice in December, and found very little of interest. Some of the better and more interesting items will end up on eBay, later this month.

Happily, there are some better days (tide-wise) coming up towards the middle of January, and I just hope the weather isn't completely horrible. Spending three hours on the beach with rain being driven into my face at 25mph, while the temperature is about 40 (4C) is really not my idea of a fun time.

End of Season Reflections

2007-12-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

It has been a year, of sorts. Frankly, had anyone (in the past) told me that I would end up actually selling some of my seaglass to other collectors and to jewelry makers around the world, I would have looked at them like they were nuts. It surprises me a little, in a way, because I have been seeing jewelry made with seaglass for many years. I suppose I always figured that the jewelers got their own glass from personal trips to the beach.

Now that I think about it, that doesn't necessarily make sense-- some of them lived in locales 100s or even 1000s of miles from the nearest coastline. And, as one person at a street fair pointed out to me, earlier this year: "Making jewelry and going to fairs takes up all the time I have. I can't really afford to give up a bunch of days to go find my own glass, and then not be assured that I even get what I need, when I give up an entire day."

The thing I had "overlooked" is that a lot of artists live in financially precarious positions, and so the $100 they could save by doing their own beachcombing doesn't make up for losing three days of work. Apart from which being able to buy a batch of glass that has already been sorted by color, and selected for "jewelry quality" is a lot more reliable than depending on whatever turns up, on any given day at the beach.

North Beach Treasures eBay Store

2007-11-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

I have been encouraged by the favorable response I have received from people, as a result of my seaglass auctions on eBay. Seems that a few folks out there believe I am "doing it right."

I never really envisioned my selling some of my "excess" seaglass as being more than something I "dabble" in. Certainly, I never contemplated it as "a business," and I still don't. It's a hobby, first and foremost.

That said, I have had a few of my seaglass-for-jewelry customers suggest to me that I put up an eBay "store," rather than just rely on periodic auctions. I understand their point. As I have been going, so far, I just bulked up whatever I had left to sell every 3-4 weeks and put it out for auction. In a way, an "all or nothing" approach.

An online store makes sense (from a buyer's perspective), because people can go there and buy supplies when they need it, not based on when I happen to have time for auctions.

Of course, it costs money to have a store on eBay, but since I'm not really trying to have a business, per se... the cost seems negligible, vs. the benefits to people out there.

So, with no further ado, I am pleased to announce the "opening" of my eBay store:

North Beach Treasures

If you're a sea glass collector, you'll find some better individual shards-- unusual and rare. If you're a jewelry maker or doing crafts projects with sea glass, you'll find bulk lots and "selections," often listed by quality grade and color.

2007 Sea Glass Festival

2007-08-13T23:19:00.000-07:00

I am feeling a bit bummed that the 2007 NASGA Sea Glass Festival is October 7-8, which overlaps with a retreat I am co-hosting in Estes Park, CO.

One of the people who buys glass from me on eBay asked if I was going, and I had to admit that I am not. The Colorado thing was a prior agreement.

It will probably be a couple of years before I can go to a seaglass festival, as rumor has it the next one they schedule will be on the east coast. I don't really know enough people back east to be sure I have a free place to stay.

Summer Beachcombing

2007-07-28T23:05:00.000-07:00

Although I do try to make it to the beach pretty much year-round, summers are more fun. The tides are more favorable (most of the fall and winter, low tide occurs in the middle of the night), and the longer days make for more time to walk further and pick things up.

It seems to be a general rule that the further you are willing to walk, the better the pickings. When I say walk, I am referring to how far you walk from the nearest land access to the beach. Once you get much beyond three miles (or an hour+), the pickings start to get better, especially if part of the hike is difficult, over a beach that is mostly large round rocks, making footing rather treacherous.

I have been finding a few rarities, recently. I have a much better sense of why they are "rarities," now. Sea glass marbles seem to be getting scarcer every year, too... I guess it may be a product of modern times-- kids don't play with maerbles anymore.

Customer service?

2007-07-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

So far, it would seem, I have done fairly well with my sales on eBay. People seem fairly pleased with the lots I have offered, and and the majority of my lots have sold.

I experienced some "trickiness" around going to the retreat in California-- it's hard to run an Internet business when you're not actually somewhere where you can connect to the Internet.

I had expected summer to be a pretty good season around here, but I am discovering that this is such a tourist town that most of the beaches are actually picked clean, around this time of the year. Seems that leaves me either with "friendly" tides and little glass, or "unfriendly" tides, and better glass. Not sure what to do about that. Of course, I am not really running a "business," per se, so maybe I just shouldn't worry.

But speaking of business, I have been surprised at the number of people who have actually been surprised that I answer emails, and answer questions on eBay. I find that a but mystifying. Why would a seller not take the time to answer and inquiry? Not that I am necessarily all that surprised, since I heard much the same kind of feedback in the stamp business.

I really haven't found a great number of rarities around here. Naturally, there's lots and lots of common glass in common colors, but not very much in unusual colors. Heh! Maybe that's what makes them "unusual!"

Summer Solstice

2007-06-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that it is already summer, and that we have rounded the longest day of the year. The extreme summer tides that make beach glass collecting so enjoyable are still here for a few more months, before the times start to become "unfriendly."

Since I have started selling glass on eBay, I have also started wondering how I will manage to have anything to offer during the winter months when tides are unfavorable. Ironically, those who make jewelry with sea glass probably have the greatest need before the Christmas holidays, and in early spring, before the spring and summer crafts fairs start up again.

eBay and Sea Glass

2007-04-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

After poking around a bit with searches, I have created an eBay account to try to sell sea glass on eBay.

When I looked, it appeared that there are lots of people who offer sea glass, and quite a few of the listed items actually end up selling. From what I can tell, their glass isn't necessarily any better or different from what I typically find.

The spectacular emerald heart was what got the whole thing started-- it's flawless and large, and people seem willing to pay good money for sea glass hearts in almost any condition.

If I could use this to add a couple of hundred dollars of "pocket money" a month, it would not only answer the question of what I am going to "do" with the glass I am finding here (which is significantly more than I have found on other beaches where I have beach combed), it would bring some much needed supplementary income to the stamp business... which is not really going as well as I might like.

Fortunately, the new camera has a decent macro setting, so I should be able to present decent photos in my auctions.

As I pondered this (yesterday), I decided I am going to take the same approach I have always taken with stamps-- and anything else I have sold on eBay: Have better and more attractive photos and better descriptions than anyone else in the market. It either forces others to "snap to" and up their game... or their stuff will simply just not look as appealing.

I am thinking I will use starting prices of $2.95 for better individual pieces, and $3.95 for "lots." Some people seem to start all their stuff at 99 cents-- I suppose, to take advantage of eBay's lowest listing fee-- and some seem to have a horribly inflated sense of what their glass is worth. I guess I'll be going along the "middle way," until I settle into a pattern. I just can't visualize selling anything for 99 cents. What's the point? It's not that I'm trying to be greedy... but after eBay and PayPal and packing materials? That 99 cents would be eaten up. As Brian Hunt used to say "It takes no talent to GIVE away good material, it takes talent to SELL it for a fair price." Of course, he was talking about stamps... but still...

Wishing myself luck here, with this new endeavor.

Changing Scenery

2007-04-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

The beach I typically visit is forever changing. Perhaps it's because I live in a place that has large tidal variations, and because it faces the often wind-whipped Straits of Juan de Fuca.

Some people might say "So what? Don't all beaches change?"

Truth be known, they don't.

Our house in Denmark, when I was little, was about 1/4 mile from the beach. It was a beach on a fairly protected sound, close to the Baltic-- tides were minimal, and rarely did storms do much to alter the beach landscape.

As a teen, I lived on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, near the straits of Gibraltar. Although there were strong currents and occasional storms, those beaches changed very little-- and tides in the Mediterranean tend to be fairly limited, proximity of the Atlantic Ocean notwithstanding.

There's a significant difference in what treasures you might find on a beach where the most exciting thing a storm brings up is some seaweed, and a beach where the storms wash up logs the size of a small house.

Having lived near both kinds of beaches, I prefer the changes-- even when they have a negative impact on what I find, during my beach walks.

40th Anniversary?

2007-04-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

It would be a pretty good guess that I could be having my 40th anniversary as a seaglass collector this year.

Of course, I am just guessing.

I do know that I first became fascinated by these small treasures from the sea when I was maybe six years old. My parents would go to the south of France a lot-- and while my dad was at work, I would go with my mom to the beach. At some point, I noticed that there were "small blue stones" on the beach, so I started collecting them. Of course, the "small blue stones" weren't stones at all, but tiny shards of sea glass.

I don't have any of those original bits of seaglass from my childhood-- they were long lost through a series of moves. However, I still have the fascination with things found on the beach, and these days I am fortunate to not only live just a half-mile from the beach, but also in a location where there is a fairly good supply of glass to be found.

These, then, are the ramblings of a beachcomber.