Beach History

With the fan twirling above me, my shoes kicked off my feet, and my hair pulled back from my face, I think I am finally ready to type a new post.  Yes, it's been a while since my last entry, and the extreme summer heat is just one of the reasons.  I won't go into the others; each of them would only editorialize everything that most people are tired of hearing about.  These posts would have nothing to do with blessings from the beach, and they'd be far too lengthy, so let's take a look at today's photo instead.  I call it, "Beach History".  It's amazing what you can find on the beaches of South Haven!  True, most of it came from regions north of us, but isn't it incredible how fossils, millions of years old, ended their journey here at my feet?  Huh!

In today's shot, I've scattered the glass and fossilized crinoids throughout, but the rest of the fossils are pretty much around the edges, starting with the Petoskey stones in the upper right corner.  Going clockwise, you'll see two honeycomb corals, then a horn coral peeking out of the corner.  The longer piece in the lower left corner appears to be one single strand of pipe organ coral (I should have gotten the whole thing in the picture, sorry!). On top is a fossil containing several crinoids, and next to that is the first piece of blue chert that I have ever found!  It is microcrystalline quartz, and its blue color tells us it is from the area of Leland, Michigan, over 200 miles away!

Inspiration for Today's World   from Proverbs 16:7  (NLT)

When the ways of people please the Lord, he makes even their enemies live at peace with them.

Big Collection of Beach Blessings

Where to begin, hmmm.  As you can see the beach was a lot of fun this week!  Let's start with the fossil on the far left; I think it's a cladopora.  There are three nice pieces of horn coral above that with a small honeycomb coral to their right.  The next three fossils are Petoskey stones followed by a cute little rock with some crinoids in it.  Continuing clockwise, are the single crinoids that I've been including in my bracelets lately.  

Next, there are two tiny lightning stones, and to the right of them is one of the best chain coral fossils I've ever found!  

The white one that's full of crystals looks like a geode.  The next four are pudding stones, and I found them all in the same small area of just a few feet.

I'll probably make some necklaces with the next two rocks that have a hole in them already, and the heart-shaped rocks will go in my collection of over a hundred other hearts.

With the center so full of sea glass, it's hard to see all of the beautiful colors, but there is quite a variety, and I'm excited to see what I can do with them!

Today's Inspirational Verse   (for restful sleep)  
found in Psalm 4:8

I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

     

Mystery Stones

After much time spent looking for pictures of some of the rocks in this week's collection, I've still ended up with some mystery pieces.  They are the four in the lower left corner (although, I'm sure that because of the stripes and hardness, that two of them are some kind of metamorphic rocks, I just don't know the minerals in them).  The top one in that group could be some melted glass over stone, and the other?  I don't know.  

Then, there are the greenish and blue ones on top.  I'd appreciate help with those, as well.  The pink one next to them looks like it contains feldspar, but I wouldn't stake my life on it. The rest of the pieces going clockwise from there are: Petoskey stones, lightning stones, a chain coral fossil, two honeycomb coral fossils, a small pipe organ coral fossil, and two heart-shaped rocks of some kind.  Above the mystery pieces you'll see a good collection of crinoids, a decorated ceramic shard, and a nicely shaped chunk of pure quartz (I didn't see any other minerals in it).

Concerning the sea glass, my husband found the unusually dark aqua piece that I really like, and there is an old brown bottle shard that has some interesting lettering on it.  Also, many of the pieces are quite large, so it was a good week for beach blessings!

P.S.  Yesterday, I noticed that an ad to the right of my post was not something I would ever recommend.  That doesn't happen very often, but when it does, please know that it is out of my control.  Thank you for your understanding.

Today's Inspiration for Healing   from Psalm 103:1-5  (NLT)

Praise the Lord, I tell myself;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, I tell myself,
and never forget the good things he does for me.
He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
He ransoms me from death
and surrounds me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things.  
My youth is renewed like the eagle's!
  

In Spite of the Waves

Here is another week's worth of South Haven beach blessings, minus three days for high waves.  Nevertheless, I did find a fair amount of beautifully smoothed sea glass!  As usual, you'll see other treasures along the perimeter of the glass beginning with a pure white quartz in the nine o'clock position.  Going clockwise, there are three Petoskey stones, crinoids and rocks containing them, three great samples of unakite, a mystery piece that may be dried foam from cement, two pipe organ corals, a ceramic shard, and a small honeycomb coral piece.  If you tilt your head to the right, the big brown fossil on top looks like the crinoids are spelling, "Jo".  Fun stuff!

This Week's Hope    found in Psalm 118:13  (NRSV)

I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.
  

Change is Good

Writing is as relaxing to me as knitting is to others, so what's with all of the avoidance behaviors?  My ten-minute bike ride turned into twenty, then I drove the car across town for just one item.  Having a strict rule against the latter, and doing it anyway, showed me it was time to sit down and write my post before I do something I really regret.  But as I turned on my laptop, the mood just wasn't right.  As much as I treasure the little space on our upstairs landing, where words usually flow from my keyboard, I desperately needed a change of venue.

Looking around for electrical outlets in this old house wasn't a problem; there are several.  Today, though, choosing a place to plug in felt like work to me.  I just wasn't, as they say, "feelin' it".  In the back of my mind were some words I had heard recently on the radio, "Sitting is the new smoking, in regards to healthy living".  That thought cut the possibilities down considerably.  So I headed out to the garage.  Something about setting up in my husband's man-cave gave me a boost of energy.  I really woke up when I remembered he had just installed a new window facing our morning glories.  To top it all off, the window is high and horizontal with a shelf right below it.  To work there, I had to stand up.  Love it!  Not only was I able to write semi-outdoors with a beautiful view right in front of my face, I also got to think on my feet.  It was refreshing!  And now, I'm done.  Change is good.

I chose this photo, "Lightening Stone", because I don't usually photograph all colors of beach glass together.  I usually have a color theme, but change is good sometimes.