Did I Mention I Live at the Beach?
For those of us with the fortune of living by the water, and for those of us with the misfortune of having a packrat mentality, the beach poses an especially dangerous risk--detritus--or in the minds of collectors, gifts from the sea. Above are a couple of examples worth voting on. The first is a glass urn filled with my favorite colors of sea glass. Though it's not shown, I have two of these. I place votive candles inside and they look quite lovely at night. The second and third photo is of a large (maybe 15 inches) horseshoe crab. It's cracked. I have others and seasonally they appear all over the beach. Parked in various places around the house are many more boxes and jars of sea glass and a variety of shells. I have one glass urn that is about 2 feet tall filled with shells of all types. Do I pack it or do I start over?
The problem with all of these things is that they collect dust. You can't dust off an urn of sea glass. You have to empty it out, wash the sea glass, wash the urn, try to dry everything off as best as you can and then put it all back in. That takes up a good part of a sunny beach day.
I've read on various design sites that shells are the new hot decorating idea. Then on other sites, I've read that shells are passe. Okay, explain this to me...how does something natural become passe? Excuse me, but you really should get those trees out of the yard; they're not in style anymore! Away away with the flower arrangements; flowers are out. Not getting it.
Right now, out on the deck is a plastic bag full of shells that my 7 year old granddaughter gathered while we were walking on the beach. Children are indiscriminate when it comes to collecting things in the wild. The bag is full of seaweed and sand-encrusted broken shells, broken crabs, a piece of a lobster claw. If you suggest to them that they should hold out for something very special or whole, they quickly inform you that whatever they have in their gritty paw is very special and therefore must go into the bag. I don't know if that's because children can see the wonder in things that we dismiss as adults or that they are afraid they may never find something special or whole. I think it's the former. This is not me building a case for why I should drag my granddaughter's shells to the new house, but I confess I have an emotional attachment to that grocery bag that's collecting flies out there.
So I live at the beach. When I move, I will live at the beach. Do I take the sea glass and shells or leave the sea glass and shells? These are the serious questions of our times. Or my time anyway. Perhaps now that I am an adult, I fear I will never find anything special or whole again.
The problem with all of these things is that they collect dust. You can't dust off an urn of sea glass. You have to empty it out, wash the sea glass, wash the urn, try to dry everything off as best as you can and then put it all back in. That takes up a good part of a sunny beach day.
I've read on various design sites that shells are the new hot decorating idea. Then on other sites, I've read that shells are passe. Okay, explain this to me...how does something natural become passe? Excuse me, but you really should get those trees out of the yard; they're not in style anymore! Away away with the flower arrangements; flowers are out. Not getting it.
Right now, out on the deck is a plastic bag full of shells that my 7 year old granddaughter gathered while we were walking on the beach. Children are indiscriminate when it comes to collecting things in the wild. The bag is full of seaweed and sand-encrusted broken shells, broken crabs, a piece of a lobster claw. If you suggest to them that they should hold out for something very special or whole, they quickly inform you that whatever they have in their gritty paw is very special and therefore must go into the bag. I don't know if that's because children can see the wonder in things that we dismiss as adults or that they are afraid they may never find something special or whole. I think it's the former. This is not me building a case for why I should drag my granddaughter's shells to the new house, but I confess I have an emotional attachment to that grocery bag that's collecting flies out there.
So I live at the beach. When I move, I will live at the beach. Do I take the sea glass and shells or leave the sea glass and shells? These are the serious questions of our times. Or my time anyway. Perhaps now that I am an adult, I fear I will never find anything special or whole again.
AS Harsh as this may sound, it might be a good idea not to pack the horseshoe crabs or sea glass but leave them on the beach. just a suggestion from your friend, clara.....
ReplyDelete