We saw a Glass Float on the Beach!!

Finders Keepers is a part of tourism in Lincoln City, Oregon. This year 2010 glass floats will be distributed throughout 7 1/2 miles of beaches that line the town.

Sunday Morning, after church, we stopped by a favorite spot.  Hubby dropped off Jon, I and the pup and then drove north to another outlet to pick us up.  I didn’t want to dawdle, there were quite a few people on the beach, the dog couldn’t be off leash, so we took the low tide path, hard sand, to quickly walk up north on the beach.

When we reached the walkway to the parking area, two ladies were holding the most beautiful blue glass float, about the size of a cantaloupe cradling it like a baby. It had the number, signature, and sticker for Finder’s Keeper’s.

I can not explain adequately in the limited vocabulary I seem to muster the joy and excitement of even seeing one of these beauties. Knowing, that maybe, if I had taken the soft sand path, we might have found one. I thought I’d feel jealousy and remorse of taking a different path, but the joy and amazement of seeing someone else find one was thrilling. She said she’s been looking “for years”, which is the common statement.

Knowing that the rumor mill has told us they often find balls in this stretch of beach, and now seeing one – amazing.

After they walked up the road to their home, I had the wish that I had been bold enough to ask for a picture, but the adrenaline rush kept the thought from my mind, like finding a rare bird and trying to memorize the characteristics to look it up later.

So – hopefully you can see the joy and excitement on my face! The Hope is Alive to finding one myself!

Happy Anniversary

Here are the waves from December 23, 2009, my 20th wedding anniversary.These photos are from my cell phone, so not too detailed. Still, even with the most expensive camera to be had, I don't think one can capture just how beautiful the day was. My cheeks are sun kissed, bones still warmed from the sun. Met a few more locals, I can still smell the salt air. Found ton of agates on the beach, 2 hours after high tide, even facing a setting sun. Fabulous!

Storms

 

“There is no such thing as bad weather, just improper clothing.” A Swedish Proverb.

Even when the wind howls, we walk. The dog even gave up this day, but we went to the dead tree and back, I think it is almost a mile round trip. Strangly, we didn't pick up any rocks this day. :)

Trash on the Beach

A local walker took this out of this bird's foot. He found out we were homeschoolers and showed us a ton of pics on his cell phone of things he has seen on while walking the beach three times a week. He had photos of 5-6 foot squid. I guess ya just never know what you'll find! Here is the picture and story of the squid on the beach in Lincoln City.

Bon Fires at Siletz Bay

We spent the day looking through the entire 7 mile stretch of beach looking for signs of Glass Balls in Lincoln City. To No Avail. So we ended up with a great bon fire, met some amazing people, got sunburned, and came home with sand in places that still arn't cleaned. :)

Whale Watching

We are pretty excited about the Whale Migration this year. We have not lived near the ocean since the boys had cared to know. When I was a kid, I really did not care to know. Now, all three of us are obessesed. Checking the Depot Bay website daily to know when they start. :) We'll keep ya posted. :)

Shine!

Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:6

The agates found on the beach, from Roads End in Lincoln City. This one is quite large, still has some edges on it, and you can't see through it unless you hold it up to the light. Working daily on how to let our light shine here in Lincoln County, show Christ, and Glorify the Father as unschoolers on the Central Oregon Coast.

The Great Whatchamacallit

Each time we go to the beach, we find little tidbits to pick up.  Agate, Petrified Wood, Shell, Rock, Driftwood etc. The trouble comes with where to put it? I have tried to choose one collection pocket, but I’m too dim to remember which is which. So I end up with sand in the cell phone, the camera, my keys and wallet. Sigh.  For the past two months we have been collecting Peanut Butter Jars and Mayonnaise Jars. I’ve had ideas swirling in my brain of how to create the contraption, to not loose a lid, to hang around the shoulders, to have a good rope, to be hand held if needed. So far, I haven't been successful in perfect design.  THEN LAST NIGHT – I found a blog with an example of how to attach the lid.  Oh. My. You might say. Solved world hunger? Well. No . . . but it if you saw or listened through hearing me explain my ideas, you’d probably get the same look that my hubby gets . . . . Sometimes the simple solution and I don’t really meet at first.  So – thanks to Plum Pudding's Site, I found the perfect solution to the lost lid!  The boys and I created 3 of these last night.

 
The boys made a commercial, which they have not granted me permission to post as of yet, and instead of calling it a simple rock jar, they settled on The Great Whatchamacallit, because, in their words, “its funnier”.  So there ya have it. Funny, In a Peanut Butter Jar.

The Whatchamacallit

We created 3 of these this week - works GREAT for keeping pockets dry and almost sand free. :)

First Crabbing

We bought new crabbing equipment as our family christmas present this year. We were told that our needs were an Ugly Stick, Specialty locally made crab trap, pvc, 5 gallon bucket, measure, firewood, and beach chairs.
We went out on the 22nd of December, celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary. :)

12/23/09

North of Lincoln City. There is quite a bit of sand on the beach, but these are still able to be found. Some were found yesterday at Siletz Bay.

The large one was found North of Lincoln City 2 hours after low tide, at the water line.

Geode found near Lincoln City by the little Pebbles

It just goes to show -  that ya never know what you’ll find during a walk on the beach.

It was high tide, the waves were up to the sea wall in spots, and we needed to wear out the pup on a half hour walk before our expected company arrived.

The whole family danced with fancy footwork on the rocks to escape the tragedy of wet tennis shoes.

Suddenly, Nate ran out to the water and then back screaming and wailing,  “A Blue Agate. A Blue Agate, I found a Blue Agate!”. I thought he was making it up and would hold up a piece of hard blue plastic smoothed by the waves, but low and behold it was a huge blue geode!

Does it only come to rock hounds? The sure and utter joy of discovery? The overwhelming joy for those who find a rare item?  He said that only the tip was out of the sand, and that he thought it was just a sugar agate but something sparkled on it and he was curious, then went to the water to wash it off and came unglued with excitement.

Trying to show how the light shows through.
Measures 6.5 mm /2.5 inches from widest points long,
26mm/1.75 inches tall.

Here is another find from about 2 weeks ago in the same area, we are not sure what it is, but it sure glistens in the sun!

      

Could this be a black banded agate?
This is about 3 inches long, 1.75 inches wide.

 

If you know anything about agates and have any tips of identification, let us know!  We went to Bob’s Books in Lincoln City yesterday to pick up a great Agate book.   It was just over $5.00.  We want to get down to the Facet’s Shop in Newport to have them look at the geode.  We are really enjoying looking for the Agates in the Central Oregon Coast – I can’t wait to see what the ocean churns up as the storms move here for the winter!