Beach Combing The Knots Out

The boys and I left the city today and drove a short distance to Half Moon Bay to beach comb together in the sun. So fun to sift through so many different species here on the other coast.


My dream is to find a glass, Japanese fishing float or a real message in a bottle. But in lieu of those jackpot finds I always am willing to settle for a shiny bit of mother-of-pearl, frosted beach glass or rocks with holes worn through for a necklace chain.



Here's the one I was wearing today (don't mind the pajamas....am blogging from bed) made from a California rock from our last visit here a couple of years ago.


I used to be a crazy stuff-hound at the beach, hauling home pockets and buckets of treasures. But recently I've leaned much more towards "catch and release" beach combing. This fitting, given the message I've recently been downloading from the firmament about having less. I am only keeping the truly special finds, usually culling the chosen favorites further at home. And most of what I find is photographed for the sake of capturing the art of the piece and then left in the sand to drift off on a new adventure.


We have fun later, looking through the photos and using them to key out creatures and plants in field guides, no broken bits to dump out of our pockets, no heap of muted finds...disappointedly dulled by the dry indoor air and artificial lights.


I am inspired by this Etsy seller's beautiful photo collages of her beach combing finds. I haven't tried any light box arranged collection photos. Maybe they'd be fun, arranged in a series of thick frames down the upstairs hall or something.


I have plans to look up a good beach in the area that is supposedly great for sea glass and I was really hoping to see a starfish today in the tide pools, so that leaves us two things to look forward to in the next sandy foray. This weekend we are headed up to see the redwoods and I am hoping to stop at one more beach then too! Never enough "wave therapy,"as my priest calls beach-time.


The urchin shell below was my favorite find today. Urchin shells make me squee out loud! This one goes in my "Save" box


I think the best find today though was the wild sea lions, napping in the sun on the jetty. Ru, my most ardent animal lover was absolutely entranced and sat devotedly still watching for a long while. Thank you, Mr. Sea Lion for being so gracious to my little boy, I wish you many fat fishes in return.


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