Tuesday, May 26, 2009

S is for Sea Glass



One of the pleasures of beach walking for some here on the Quimper Peninsula is collecting sea glass, also known as beach glass or mermaid tears. These little fragments of discarded glass items (mostly bottles) have been rolled and tumbled by sea water, rocks and sand for years and are washed ashore daily by wave and tidal action. The glass pictured here was collected by my wife, Nancy, on a three hour stroll last week along Port Townsend's North Beach on the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The Seattle Times recently published an article written by Port Townsend freelance journalist, Ross Anderson about the growing popularity of sea glass which can be read here.


Visit many more S posts today at Mrs. Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday.


20 comments:

Lowell said...

Omigod!!! I haven't seen these since I was in elementary school in Duluth, Minnesota. I'd go down to Lake Superior and scrounge around the water and find so many beautiful pieces.

I don't know what happened, but I no longer have any.

What great memories!

Thanks!

Sylvia K said...

Those are so beautiful! I hope when I get to Port Townsend in Sept. I can find some! Beautiful shots! and perfect for the S day! Thanks, Raf, as always for the beauty!

magiceye said...

that is a lot of glass
beautiful though!

joo said...

They are beautiful:)

Olivier said...

Je ne connaissais pas, on dirait des bijoux, c'est beau
I did not know, they would say jewellery, it is nice

cieldequimper said...

I didn't know they were called "mermaid tears", how lovely! Very nice shots, here's me dreaming of beachcombing on the "other Quimper"! ;-)

Small City Scenes said...

I love sea glass. I like having some scattered in the garden. Nice pics. MB

Pat said...

So beautiful. I have a jar of various sea glass from all over that sits with some shells on my dresser. I will pick up some PT sea glass this summer!

jay said...

I have always loved sea glass, and used to collect it on beach holidays as a child.

One of my favourite pairs of earrings are green sea glass in silver.

Jane Hards Photography said...

Mermaid's tears, I like that. I have never seen anything so pretty washed up on our shores. Unique choice.

Dragonstar said...

We used to find sea-glass when we lived on our island - never in these quantities though, and never such a bright blue. Beautiful photos of a beautiful collection.

Lisl Armstrong said...

Beautiful sea glass and beautiful pictures!

Lisl Armstrong said...

Beautiful sea glass and beautiful photographs!

Q said...

Sea Glass is beautiful!
Sherry

Tumblewords: said...

An amazing stash of sea glass for a three-hour walk. I love that stuff, just love it. Only have a couple of pieces but each piece carries its own mystical aura.

Maria's Space said...

I have always found sea glass beautiful. Who would think those are just disgusting, discarded trash that someone tossed!

firstofmany said...

Unfortunately plastic has replaced glass bottles. Read more about the issue at
:http://junkraft.blogspot.com/

these folks made a vessel out of plastic bottles and sailed around to raise awareness.

tapirgal said...

Thanks for this nice post. I'd forgotten how much I also like sea glass. I don't see much of it around Astoria.

Kcalpesh said...

This is interesting. The life underwater must be using that as their currency... But, seriously if these really are mermaid tears.. then it leaves me wondering.. about the whole theory of their existence... :-) I know it's a myth but still it makes me think...

OdysseySeaGlass said...

The beaches to the west of Port Townsend are some of the best spots in the USA for consistent sea glass. My wife and I love walking the beaches near North Beach and do so at least once a week. Lovely photos!