Gathering Beach Glass is Like Life

One of my favorite summer activities is hitting the beach shortly after sunrise for a long walk. I enjoy a leisurely pace, let my mind wander, and examine the sandy path in front of me for beach glass. 

Today, the first piece I scoop out of the pebbled shoreline is a hefty green shard. As I pocket my treasure, the mental game–one I play so often during these early meanderings–begins. Is it a remnant from a beer, wine or soft drink bottle? How long has it been tumbling in the chilly Great Lakes, and what was its journey to this northwest Indiana beach. Oh, the stories we invent to fill in the gaps of knowledge.

A few yards down, I snag an uncommon prize: a cobalt blue chip the size of a quarter. If you’re a seasoned beachcomber like me, you know this qualifies as a rare discovery, but not as significant as orange, pink, lavender, or black sea glass, all of which originate from vintage decorative glassware. In all my years of exploring the sandy shores here, I have yet to find any orange or black fragments.

When I make my way from Duneland Beach along the beachfront stops of Long Beach, I pause every so often to snatch up fingernail-sized fragments of clear and brown glass, ordinary discoveries but “finds” nonetheless. Two of the clear pieces are so thin that I’m certain their provenance is a set of eyeglasses. I picture a sea captain or first mate losing their eyewear while out at sea, and then I consider the trouble this loss caused later when docking harborside.

As I make the turn and retrace my steps towards home, I marvel how even though I’ve already hunted this stretch of sand I continue to unearth glittering slivers and shards. I speculate whether this phenomenon is due to the waves which constantly drive the shoreline dragging matter along in their powerful wake. But part of me believes that by reversing my course the change in the sun’s angle helps illuminate the bounty I previously bypassed. 

So too, it strikes me how this crazy pursuit of tumbled colored glass is like life. As we navigate our personal journeys, we pick and choose between different paths. We take one opportunity and skip another. As a result, we often miss or ignore the treasures we literally step right over. Just like the turnaround I make to venture home, when one stops and considers the path traveled is the exact moment we see the world with fresh eyes. 

When my time scouring the shoreline for treasure comes to an end, I kick off my shoes at the beach house door and deposit today’s “finds” in the glass container I keep on the bookshelf. Each time I throw a handful in there, I marvel at how my collection has grown. The mass of varied bits and pieces is impressive not just for their shapes and sizes but how they intermingle and catch the light. So true of life, too. Our experiences and memories weave together blending us into the unique people we are today and who we are becoming.

I hope your summer is full and that you’re capturing your own brand of treasures. I’m still writing the next book. Stuck in the muddy middle but making progress and creating a gem of a story based on old but important and colorful memories. And yes, like I do when examining and pondering the background of a nugget of beach glass, I’m filling in the gaps of the story with wisdom from the characters involved.

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