I never notice a theme forming with my reading or in my life. It is only after the concept is fully formed, do I clue in. A few months ago, I read Moby Duck. During the winter of 1992, a monstrously big super-freighter lost a few shipping containers off the deck during an even bigger storm. Inside one of these containers was a shipment of 28,800 children's bath toys, frogs, beavers, turtles and ducks. This diminutive flotilla of tub toys collected in the Pacific gyre, a giant whirling current, and were periodically spat out to make their way towards a coast. A reports of the toys' landings came in, scientists were able to learn a great deal about ocean currents. The book does talk about plastic pollution in our seas as well as beach-combing. Admittedly, I will periodically check for one of these floatees on eBay because I could use it for... work. Tax deduction! 1 day of the year I could show it off and 364 days, it could sit in my office at home by my monitor, smiling the wise smile of a world traveler. I have never found one for sale; George is relieved. How high might I bid? (We only need one kidney, right? Oh darn, that's right. There is no value in human body parts... hmm... Plan B...)
This particular story of the squeaky armada was not news to me, as I had already become familiar with it though various children's books.
And of course, I thought of Flotsam by David Wiesner, which I adore and which talks about a beach-combing fantasy adventure, not just bath toys.
George and I receive quite a few magazines in the mail. We rarely buy
them off a newsstand. Arriving to our house are Reader's Digest,
National Parks magazine, Wend magazine, Audubon magazine, Distinctly Montana and Popular Mechanics. We also read magazines on our e-Reader
devices (Time and Popular Science). After we finish with them, we pass
them along in our family network of readers. I trade my parents to get
their issues of Smithsonian magazine, Yankee magazine and Better Homes & Gardens. My mom is a newsstand buyer, so there will occasionally
be other random things in the mix. My sister hooks me up with her back
issues of Real Simple. And when I get my originals back, I take them to school and put them on the coffee table in the front lobby. Maybe someone waiting will need something good to read... But I NEVER give away my back issues of National Parks magazine. I loan them, but always get them back. They are saved and I pour over them from time to time looking for ideas and inspiration.
My recent obsession with sea glass hunting actually had little to do with these books/ ideas, although at the time, I bookmarked a ton of related websites using my Diigo account. What spurred my obsession was my current issue of National Parks magazine.
The cover article details a California couple, Judith & Richard Lang, who make amazing pieces of art from flotsam that they gather while beach-combing. Their idea was so wonderfully simple. They would walk a one mile stretch of their local beach at Point Reyes National Seashore (which I have been to, thanks parents!) and they would gather up all the trash. Back home, they organize and sort it all and then use bits and pieces here and there to make a masterpiece. Watch this video to learn about them, their creative process and why they do what they do.
So initially, I just had this want to clean up some trash, but I needed a reason to drive 2 1/2 hours over the bay bridge other than to clean up a beach. Enter sea glass. While I sometimes have spur of the moment flashes of genius, sometimes, I have to let things rattle around inside me and pick up chunks of other things before I notice it and give it some thought. I guess sea glass gives me the chance to pick up some trash and make the great outdoors a little bit better for the next explorer while giving me a purpose to hold on to and a twinkly little thank-you from the shoreline.
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