We haven’t been out to our favourite beach in Colchester, Ontario for at least two months. The girls were at their grandparents today – which gave us a perfect excuse to head to the beach.
The water is high right now – the highest I’ve seen it. I’ve also never seen so much driftwood on the beach. I was tempted to collect a bunch, but unlike our border collie, we haven’t found a good use for it.
We found very few pieces of sea glass. I sort of gave up looking half way along the beach, and started taking photos.
Farley, waiting patiently for a piece of driftwood to be thrown:
Rosie, staying close:
The only ice to be found on the beach was a clump of icicles hanging from a branch along the shore:
Peace. Clarity. Sunshine. Two happy dogs. Two happy humans. Who cares if our sea glass buckets were empty?
My 8-year old daughter and I are heavily into Artist Trading Cards. Here are two of her sea-glass inspired Artist Trading Cards.
If only I could get my hands on the giant red piece in the upper left:)
We went sea glassing at our favourite beach near Colchester, Ontario on the weekend. It was raining for several days – and I think this helped to bring in some great glass. Not a huge amount – but really nice quality!
Found a gorgeous little turquoise piece (top photo, near the top, in the middle) and my daughter found an interesting aqua piece. Also found a piece of Blue Willow pottery.
Here is a photo of the ‘gem’ quality pieces: (It also was a good day for otoliths. We found four. A heart stone too!)
One of our favourite beaches for sea glass was Seacliff in Leamington, Ontario. Note the past tense.
The last four or five times we’ve been there, it’s been slim pickin’s. The water level is way up this year, so I think this might have something to do with it. Admittedly, we’ve only been there a handful of times within the past year, so perhaps if we went more often we would find bucketfuls like we used to.
Seacliff used to be a great place to find old glass. We found plenty of lavender sea glass on the beach, and my one and only bottle stopper.
I haven’t given up on it yet – but I think we’ll wait for a strong south wind before we head out again.
The photo above shows today’s catch. I left out a few of the ‘uncooked’ pieces.
Every Thursday I check Intellicast Detroit for the weekend forecast. It’s the Victoria Day weekend and warm air is on its way!!! Today it’s only 48 degrees and grey. We will definitely be heading to the shores of Lake Erie this weekend – despite astronomical gasoline prices. It’s a 100 k round trip to our little hot spot, so we probably spend a good $17 in gas.
I shot this a couple of weeks ago. Father and daughter. It’s so much more than just glass.
Do you collect sea glass? Then you’ve witnessed that strange look in someone’s eyes that combines both bewilderment and boredom. Bewilderment because they can’t quite figure out why you are obsessed over bits of broken glass; and boredom because bits of broken glass are about as compelling to them as an electric garage door manual.
I do believe there are people in my extended family who have given me this look. (I won’t name any names.) For these folks, I limit my sea glass discussions to mere sentence fragments.
But maybe I am taking the wrong approach. Can they be enlightened? After all, sea glass has all the elements of a compelling collectible.
- Sea glass is mysterious. Was it from a shipwreck? Or maybe a poison bottle?
- Sea glass is beautiful. People rappel off of cliffs and kayak in dangerous waters in search of rare colors.
- Sea glass is historical. Some pieces are hundreds of years old!
- Sea glass is free – unlike many collectibles which can cost oodles of money.
- Sea glass is full of surprises. You never know what will end up in your bucket!
Thankfully, the people I spend most of my time with (my husband and two girls) are in just as deep as I am, so there’s no need for a lecture. There’s no need to explain to them why housework, homework and other obligations must take a back seat to hitting the beach. There’s no need to explain to them why the kitchen table is covered in a rainbow of wet glass instead of dinner.
There’s no need to help them understand why I can hear the Divine Spirit, or Source a lot more clearly in the sound of the waves, then inside four walls.
As architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said: “I put a capital “N” on nature and call it my church.”
I love a church where I can wear rubber boots and smell the wind.
A tornado hit my favourite park in the world on Sunday. It’s where we do a great deal of our sea glassing. I haven’t been out to see the damage.
The tornado ripped out thousands of huge and beautiful trees in Leamington, Ontario – and one of the hardest areas hit was the park. We will be heading out in the next few days to take a look. I will post photos.
This photo that I took in my light box reminds me of an Inuit sculpture. It reminds me of simplicity, which at this present time, is in direct contrast with my office desktop – a bloody, disorganized mess. My cat is walking on the mound of disheveled papers and the heap is about to topple over.
Sea glass, take me away.
Wanderer, the road is your
footsteps, nothing else;
wanderer, there is no path,
you lay down a path in walking.
In walking, you lay down a path
and when turning around
you see the road you’ll
never step on again.
Wanderer, path there is none,
only tracks on the ocean foam.
~Antonio Machado