A collection of sea glass.

               I love the beach. So...very....much. I love the smell, the wildlife, getting my toes wet, people watching, digging out huge sand forts with the boys, and I love hunting for sea glass. I think searching for sea glass first thing in the morning is probably my favorite thing to do at the beach. (And I am not a morning person... but for the beach, I make an exception and enjoy the sunrise.) Next month my parents have invited us to spend a week with them in the Outer Banks and I am counting down the days... my bags are packed....now I am just waiting....and waiting.... waaaaaiiiiiting....
               While I am waiting, I decided to go through my sea glass collection. I thought I would let Romyn study it closely. Last year he wanted to find a piece so badly, but just kept holding up shinny rocks. (No luck.) Baelin stuck with his Daddy, who found a little green shard and placed it strategically in B's path so he would find it. (I am the bad parent who does not share sea glass. O.K... this year if Romyn doesn't find one I might throw him a bone. But I hope not to have to... the boy is in training!)
              Part of Romyn's sea glass training includes, telling the difference between wet rocks and frosted glass, (Can you hold it up to the sun and light passes through it?) picking out a shard from a pile of shells, and knowing not to pick up the sharp stuff. We visit the local, and tiny, Yorktown Beach often, but as it is a calmer more inland beach and the glass you find there is often in a rawer "gona cut your foot open" sort of state. Not the best training ground for a 5 year old. When I hunt for glass there, it is mostly so I can throw it in the trash before it ends up hurting someone. Anyway... we'll see if his coaching pays off!
               (P.S.- Did you know that the glass you find on these gentler inland beaches is called "beach glass"? The more heavily frosted and worn pieces you would find from the open ocean are called "sea glass".)

 

                   Another thing I look forward to in OBX is the shopping! There are a lot of great thrift, antique and kitschy souvenir shops we love to visit. Something you'll  see a lot of there is pretty sea glass jewelry. I have been close to buying a piece or two, but each time I ended up passing, it just didn't feel right if it was a piece of glass I hadn't found. During Romyn's training I picked out a few bits I liked, grabbed some wire, and set to work making sea glass charms. I'll show those off to you next time, for now I will just show off my collection. The two blue pieces are my favorite. I found them after two frustrating days of nothing, right next to each other in a rock pile that the tide pushed in and pulled out very quickly. I was very lucky!  But I also have a white one that looks like a sneaker I am pretty fond of, it was one of the first pieces I ever found.  

                  Does anyone else collect sea glass? I'd love to hear about your favorite piece or the strangest thing you ever found on the beach. You can bet I will show off any new pieces I find this year. My mother has both a yellow and red piece in her collection, but my fingers are crossed I'll end up with a bit of  purple!

Wish me luck!- Kendra