I've moved nearly a dozen times in the last decade. One of things I have hated most during the “getting to know you” phase is when people would ask me “so what are your hobbies?” The thing is, I have plenty of things I’m passionate about, but they are all kind of obscure and it always felt out of place mentioning my quirkiness in these moments when I was trying to come off as a normal (enough) person. Instead I always went for the obvious “Oh, I guess I like books” answer.
Because truthfully, unless we are counting (which I am not) the brief and regrettable magician phase I went through in 8th grade- I've never had a bona fide answer when faced with the dreaded “hobby” question. I hated the question and my lack of response so much that six-months before I turned thirty I told Whitney we needed to try a bunch of hobbies to find out what I was good at. We vowed to go deep sea fishing, try basket weaving, hang gliding and about a dozen other things before I turned thirty. We did none of them.
But the idea stayed with me. I think there is something really cool about learning a new hobby in adulthood. It is so much more exciting than when we are kids and our parents sign us up for soccer or tennis camp and we just do it because we are bored. Normal, adult life is so often boring and stale but having a hobby to look forward to was just the thing I needed.
[Enter seaglass]
I'd always wanted to find sea glass, but had just never been to the right beach I guess. The best part was that I stumbled into sea glass collecting when I discovered the beach five minutes from my house was littered with the frosty, hidden treasures. After I found a plethora of sea glass colors there, I next found out everything I could about the history of that little beach. At one point in time that beachfront housed the biggest amusement park in Washington. Prior to that it was home to a general store, that boats could dock at when the tide rolled in. Long before I was ever born there was a sign above it’s turn of the century pier that proclaimed this was the place “Where woods & water meet.” It was the perfect description of this small, rocky beachfront snuggled in the middle of the Puget Sound.
Sea glass hunting is the perfect mixture of history, adventure, luck and finding pretty, little, abandoned treasures. I liked the ocean just as much as the next guy prior to getting into sea glass, but after I really got into sea glass I finally “got” the whole ocean thing. I was head over heels in love with that mile-long stretch of land and semi-sea. There was just something so rewarding about finding these little treasures and having the wind blow salt water mist in your face. Despite everything this blog stands for I am not a super outdoorsy girl. But out there I loved every minute of it. There was something so mystical about searching the sand for these tiny left behind treasures. No wonder some people call sea glass mermaid tears.
Sea glass is essentially glass that was left at the mercy of the water and waves. Over time (decades if you’re doing it right) the churning of the waves turn the broken chunks of glass into smooth, refined treasures. All the while the water draws minerals from the glass leaving it with that distinctive frosted and pitted look pure sea glass is known for. Generally speaking, the longer a piece has been underwater the smoother it becomes. You can often times identify the age of your find by the color or material it was made of (for example a pale yellow called vaseline glass was popular primarily in the 1920’s is one my favorite pieces.) There is also a rarity scale when it comes to sea glass (for example whites and browns are most common, whereas reds and yellows are very rare.) Some of my favorite finds weren’t actually glass, but rather sea pottery (from abandoned china and dinnerware). You can also find sea glass at a lake, but it is technically called beach glass. Generally speaking sea glass that isn’t frosted or has sharp corners isn't ready yet- so you should just throw it back! There are exceptions- for example there are some really cool shards that for whatever reason just didn’t end up all the way smooth or very frosty but are still really old. I have a piece of Clorox bottle from the 1930’s that I love and it’s edges aren't entirely smooth. So for the most part if it is shiny or is sharp it isn’t ready- throw it back. The thing I love about sea glass is that every piece you find has a story. How did it get there? The stories range from ocean-side city dumps to ship wrecks to just plain old littering. But the best part is that no matter how it got there mother nature takes something discarded and unwanted and overtime makes it into something beautiful again.
Sea Glass Hunting 101
Best weather for finding sea glass: overcast
Every time I went on a sunny day I was disappointed. It’s much easier to see the sheen of the sea glass when the sun isn’t shining on it. But different light conditions seem to make different colors more visible.
Best beaches: rocky
Preferably a rocky beach that was a city dump 100 years ago! A gentle beach just doesn’t have the ability to agitate the rock into a smooth stone.
Best time: low tide, after a full moon and storm would be ideal
I loved learning to follow the tides. The lower the tide the more the beach was exposed. It was fun to go to the beach between the tides and see how much had changed. The other time to go was after a big storm had really churned up the area and moved things around.
Best places to look: Near driftwood, under rocks or other hidden places
My other favorite place to look was at the tide lines where little things had collected forming squiggly lines on the shoreline. For some reason at my beach a large majority of my sea glass was found collected in that middle section where the tide started to recede.
Best shoes: cute rain boots
Best advice: Don’t expect to find anything in particular because you have no control over what will show up. Some days are amazing and some are just meh! When I first started I picked up things I never would now- you become pickier because you know what is “good” and what is still just litter. But the thing is if you know where to look and just keep searching with no expectations you’ll be really delighted when an awesome find appears before your eyes.
for a run down of sea glass colors and their rarity, visit this site: north beach treasures
from that same site: the"rarest of the rare"
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