Sea Glass in Parade Magazine

Did you see the article in this past Sunday's Parade magazine? My folks (part of the Dad's Sea Glass Challenge brigade) showed it to me. Nice stuff. Visit the online content at the link below:

http://www.parade.com/news/slideshows/editors-pick/100801-spectacular-sea-glass.html

We long-time sea glass prospectors (and you know who you are) are ahead of our time!

2010 -- Its Been A While

Since my work entails blog posting for a corporation, as a website manager, I know that photos matter (SEO and all). My older posts have included photos, too. I wanted to get started this year with "just the right post". It was going to have a photo of my "quad-fecta": clear, brown, green, and blue glass found on our first 2010 outing. I should have just gotten going! Better late than never.

That first day was Memorial Weekend. That was a nice day. It was sunny, but cold. The hunting was pretty good. Nothing crazy, but, as I mentioned, I hit for the "quad-fecta". Not bad for the first day out.

The funny thing about wanting the perfect post is that I can't find that blue piece now. I laid out the pieces I was going to feature and, when I couldn't locate the camera, set the glass aside -- but in a well traveled spot. I hoping its behind the radiator right where I placed everything. I hate to think Dad's Sea Glass Challenge has gotten too competitive and someone took it.

Regarding the Challenge, the kids came in 1 and 2. There was a big gap between them, and then another big gap to me (Dad) in third. We brought home hundred's of pieces and a few really great ones. A lot was tiny junk, but stuff that will look nice in a vase. Only a hand-full are "specimen" quality. I'm not sure how to display those. We'll see.

The good thing about getting a late start on posts is that it will take me a while to catch up!

Mid-July Update

I am declaring the "winter deposit" theory officially debunked. As you'll see from the counts below (and my previous post), it all depends on the conditions that day. We've had great days and days that were just okay. Beautiful and fun, though, they all were.

8/8: 185 pieces (47 and 46 by the kids)! Insane catch. We came down within two days of a storm and what a difference that makes. There were several pebble mounds scattered on the beach. Sifting through the pebbles revealed many peices. They were along the beach and in the water, too. Out of the total, only a handful were what I would call "jewelry quality" -- and small at that.

I would love to see a time-lapsed film of the storm and the waves depositing all those pebbles.

8/14: 63 pieces. Less than a week later and the pebble mounds were gone. It was a bit less frenzied, though, which was nice. I took my time on the way back and found the piece of a lifetime -- see the pictures. Its larger than most we find, and completely, evenly worn. The pitting on the "outside" is quite deep; several grains of sand are embedded. For me, its an exciting find.

8/16: 32 pieces. We hit the beach at a bad time in the tide cycle. The waves weren't right, either. We all knew there was more, but not to be found that day. The nicest piece that day was part of a brown bottle-top ring -- maybe 20% of the circle, and nicely frosted.

Vacation is coming. We'll be on the beach for days. We'll be able to easily go at unusual times of day. It will be interesting to see what we find.

2009 Sea Glass Challenge Kick-off

It finally came on April 18!

It started off sunny and cold -- with wind. See the video clip (sorry for the rough editing). Then it turned raw when the clouds came in. Tough day for exposed fingers!

The sea glass hunting was amazing. We found 80 pieces of wildly varying sizes (six people). That's double last seasons entire haul! Additionally, there were pieces that the Rules Committee did not accept (too sharp, not "frosted" enough, etc.). Pretty great day in that regard.

While I think there was something to the "winter theory" (get to the winter's deposit before the summer hoards), I think the two usual factors had more to do with it. The geology of the beach that day was unique and the hydrology was just like our best days from last summer. The pebble fields were unlike any I've seen at the beach in my 42 years of going. Also, the waves were the perfect force for washing mid-sized things up and down the strand without burrying them under sand.

The word is we'll be going for another "pre-summer" day soon. We'll see if that day's catch sheds any further light on the winter theory.

Season starts soon!

Not sure if we'll kick off 2009 this coming Saturday or maybe the following. Our hope is that we'll get to the winter's deposit of sea glass before the hoards of sun worshipers. Though, as I've said, I think it really depends of the geology and hydrology of the beach on any given day. We'll see.