Oh The Glass I Find In The Sand

I'm a 'collector'.
I collect water glass. Also sometimes known as Fairy's tears, Sea Glass, which is something a bit different, and Lake Glass.
 Mine is lake glass. From the shores of Lake Superior. Lake Superior, the shore. North or south, my all time favorite place on this earth. I feel peace. I feel contentment. I feel complete. I also feel the loss.
  Often I am asked, What is Sea Glass? (or water glass)  These questions started when I began making jewelry out of the glass. Lake Superior Water Glass. Two examples:

The above picture is Water Glass taped as you would with stained glass, then soldered, jump rings added and all the pieces attached. Very fun piece to wear. Just glass. The below picture is a larger piece of beach glass that washed up on the beach, right between my bare feet, cold in the icy waters even in July. I wire wrapped it and hung it from suede. It has a very special meaning to me. That's another story, but it's the one piece I wear consistently. It's my version of Split Rock Light House, and a heart.

The above piece was most likely a top to a perfume bottle or an apothecary bottle. It's in perfect shape. No cracks, no chips. My husband, who is at the lake far more often than I, found this piece. I use it to hold my rings. It's amazing to me that it is in such beautiful shape. This piece is the one piece that makes me wonder how long it was in the water, tumbling among the sand, water and rocks. I wonder if there is a history. I'll never know. It's that way with most pieces. Although, most pieces are actually 'trash' dumped into the ocean or lake, tumbled in the water and little by little it washes to the shores. 

A couple more pics of my finds: 

The top picture is the most uncommon of the glass I find in the more pastel colors. The middle, common glass found on Lake Superior. I'm guessing beer bottles for the most part, you find a lot of brown! Green is common, clear is common. Blue is a treasure and a frosty pink and light blue are my most treasured finds. 

The shapes of the frosty glass are all different, and many times bottle bottoms I have found, as well as the tops of bottles. the last photo above is some of the bottle tops I've collected. Two are obviously pop or beer bottles, while two are most likely old pieces. Again, I am thinking apothecary bottles of some type. 

  You can find some interesting facts about Sea Glass, or Water glass here: http://www.odysseyseaglass.com/what-is-sea-glass.html

I provide the link as it's interesting, and why rewrite what is already written right? 

There is more to the glass than meets the eye. I'm not sure when my passion for it started, or even how. I only know that every summer my collection grows, and grows, and grows. Many pieces are usable in jewelry, others in art pieces, some I just toss in vases. Some become sun catchers. 

It's a crazy thing, this collecting. As I walk along the beach, wind blowing my hair, staring down into the sand beneath my feet, I have time to just loose myself in my own thoughts. I'll carry a bag, or a pail, or sometimes just put my finds in my pockets. 

Staring down as one walks down a beach can be a bit dangerous, if not embarrassing.

Dare I tell? 

There was the time I didn't notice the VERY large log that had washed ashore, and simply, but clumsily,  fell over it, rolling into the icy waves and wet sand. Could I have possibly have done this when NO ONE was on the same beach? NO. There were a number of people there, and not one of them missed my 'hit the log, fly through the air and land face down in the water'. A man with a dog came to my 'rescue', though I would have been happier to just pull my completely clothed WET body out of the water and go on my way without notice. I would say, 'Total Dork Moment'. It didn't help when he asked (as a lot of people do) "What are you doing? What are you looking for?". He dog shook the water from a wave off himself and added to the sand stuck to my face. 

    I always know this is coming so I always have on ...that pendant in the picture with the heart.   

There are stories of humilation, but most often, it's just questions from people and their strange reactions to my strange obsession. Kids however, they ask, I tell them, they began to hunt. It's so cute to see. It's a little like passing the torch. I wonder frequently, 'Are they still collecting, hunting, combing the beaches?" I'll never know.

Yes, for the most part the glass is just garbage that has been changed by the rolling of the waves and sand. Much like a rock tumbler.  Just garbage. However, if you could see the map of all the shipwrecks over hundreds of years on Lake Superior, you would then be like me: wondering, did it come from a ship? What was it?  Was whatever this broke off from a special something to someone? It makes me wonder, especially when its a piece of old china, or so thick it had to be part of a window of some type. I'll never know. I'll never quit looking. I'm in love with the frosted glass that lies in the sand. Waiting.  

  And, when I talk to 'Her', and a blue piece, rarely found, washes up between my bare feet, I will know She is there, again. Watching me. Loving me. Holding my heart.

   'We must have been the wives of Light House keepers'.

                                          "Yes, I think you are right Mom, I think we could have been."  We both laugh a little. 

 I toss a ' not ready yet' piece of glass back into the water and we walk down the shore line together, arm in arm, sharing our love of 'The Lake'. 

We still take those walks, I believe..... See you soon Mom.