on the beach today: a little plastic basketball player. I was going to pick him up and keep him, but the incoming tide took him first. Which is fine; he'll wash up on some other beach at low tide and surprise someone else.
Last night while walking Itchy by the bay I came across some trash--beer bottles and tobacco pouches strewn around a plastic bag. I decided I'd pick it up on our way back, and tucked it all into the bag and stuffed an edge of the bag under a log that must've been where the litterers sat. I was thinking it'd be nice, if, for my trouble, I found a nice piece of beach glass, a rare one, turquoise or orange. Most of the beach glass I find is brown, a good portion is clear, and a smaller amount is green. (Which means that Budweiser drinkers litter the most, followed by Miller, and lastly Rolling Rock.)
Just as I was about to leave the beach, there it was: a piece of turquoise beach glass.
I also found, unasked for!, the largest, most perfect Cape May Diamond I've ever seen.
A few years ago, my mother found this piece of driftwood; I found the "bottom."
Love your blog. As I live by the ocean (Atlantic) I'm always walking like a dog, nose down, sniffing for new discoveries...
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Wonderful story Laura. I had never heard of a Cape May Diamond before..so I looked it up .That is so interesting!!! what a history.... lucky you to recognize it!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat sculpture at the end ... so cool!!
We lived in Delaware for a couple of years and never learned of the Cape May diamonds. Beautiful story.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy learning new things, and I like the idea of the Cape May Diamonds. Imagining the journey of your diamond that started at about the same time Leif Ericson set off for Newfoundland (Vinland?) makes my head spin.
ReplyDeleteOh this was wonderful! I love the Cape May Diamond too. But the beach glass is gorgeous, just the colors that send me, and so like the sea.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gael. Beachcombing is such a satisfying, universal activity: who doesn't look for some treasure in the wrack?
ReplyDeleteHi Gwen and Bill! Searching for Cape May Diamonds is a pleasant, free (!!) Cape May pastime. My friend Robin and I always spend some time sifting through beach pebbles when she visits, though we're not necessarily looking for Diamonds, just for any rocks we like. I've been a rock collector all my life.
Richard Eberhart has a nice poem about rocks--about holding something solid in your hand--I'll try to find it.
Thanks for the Lief Erikson image, Don: I love it. So this Cape May Diamond may be as ancient as my favorite poem from the Middle Ages (the Ezra Pound translation is most true to the Anglo-Saxon rhythms and tropes), "The Seafarer."
The turquoise-colored pieces are the great finds, at least in the Mid-Atlantic, Ruth. I think it may be more common further south: I visited a gallery in Key West last year where the artist made gorgeous things with big chunks of turquoise glass! She said she found every piece. I spent my Christmas money there!