A hunting we shall go

Some days when I mention I want to go sea glass hunting my husband will say, “Don’t you have enough?” Clearly, he doesn’t get it.

I often stare out the patio doors in our kitchen and think about the beach.

It's not that I don't like the view we have – we live in the woods so we're surrounded by the forest. It's quiet. It's peaceful.

But most days I long to be on a beach searching for sea glass.

I won't say it's become an obsession, except that it has.

When I can't physically be on a beach, on social media I sometimes find myself zooming in on photos of beaches to see if I can spot sea glass laying around.

I follow a sea glass hunter on Instagram who posts videos. She'll pick up a piece of glass to her left, but I'll see one to her right. As she's walking away in the opposite direction I can hear a voice in my head saying, “Turn right! Over there! Look down! By your foot!”

I often go to the beach with my son Justin. It's our go-to place. A place where we find solace. An escape from other things happening in our lives. The sound of the surf is soothing and when we find pieces of sea glass it's an added bonus.

He and I have been doing this for over a year. We've found a lot of clear glass and green glass. What I really wanted to find was a blue piece. But it was always the same outcome. No luck.

On New Year's Day, I went to a beach with my husband Greg. I had a bag I was dropping pieces into. He dropped some in too. About 10 minutes later I said, “I really wish I'd find a piece of blue.” He responded, “I found a blue.”

I was dumbfounded. Sure enough, in the bag, was this pretty little blue piece of glass.

Me, searching for a year: nothing! Him, searching for 10 minutes: bingo!

As luck would have it, a few minutes later I found my first blue piece, which was accompanied by squeals of delight. Then I found another, and another and another. Four in total. Oh, happy day.

A couple of weeks later he and I went out again. I found another blue piece. “Look, what I found!” I said. He extended his hand to show me he had found two.

Okay buddy, it's not a competition. Well, maybe it is.

In the past, I never really paid much attention to sea glass – specifically, the glass vases containing pieces at our family camp. But one day this past summer I did take notice.

“Where did it all come from?” I asked my mom. She told me they had collected it over three years.

Three years? Why wasn't I invited? Had they purposely excluded me? Then I remembered those had been my family's camping years so all was forgiven – well, partially forgiven.

Some days when I mention I want to go sea glass hunting my husband will say, “Don't you have enough?” Clearly, he doesn't get it.

Still, I could see his point a couple of weeks ago when I had five platters of sea glass spread over our kitchen table.

I've made some framed sea glass crafts for myself and made a framed heart for my mom for her birthday. She had no idea I was crafty. Neither did I.

I also discovered how easy it is to glue your fingers together with Gorilla glue.

Hunting for glass on the beach is good exercise, but it can be hard on the body. It's not so much my neck that hurts, but my back. Eventually, I'll find myself asking, 'Is it really worth bending down to pick up that piece?'

My to-find list has evolved to include a red piece, a turquoise piece, a bottle stopper and a marble. I knocked off one of those things two weeks ago.

I was walking on a beach when I spotted it out of the corner of my eye. It was tiny, but it was turquoise.

And the best part? It was in the shape of a heart.

Appropriate, I thought, since I love the hunt.