To See a World in a Grain of Sand

Lilac dawn on Pohara Beach

I often talk about my early morning walks with a group of women friends - we usually meet before sunrise and walk Pohara Beach for an hour, chattering away and waking the neighbours as we go.

However, as occasionally happens with the group, there has been only one walker for a couple of days - ME!

While I love to walk and natter, I also relish the quiet time alone with just me and the beach - especially as the mornings are becoming lighter and spring is definitely in the air.

So I got to thinking about a poem by William Blake "Auguries of Innocence"

"To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour..."

Which is my roundabout way of explaining that I see so much on my walks on the beach - it's the same beach every day, but different.  That whole world changes - those grains of sand and every sunrise and change of tide brings a whole new swag of treasures.

Whoa!  There are so many life analogies here!

Anyhow, here's some of what the camera and I saw this beautiful spring morning...

An unusual black scallop shell

Tidal lines in the dawn

Oh, something moved!  It's a sandhopper and he's transparent!

There's colour and texture in this cockle shell - it reminds me of cockling with the kids - squeels of delight as they find them in the sand of the shallows with their feet!

A gull's head skeleton

Two horse mussel shells locked together - I love the shiny bits on the ends

there were a few transparent horse mussel shells today - I wonder if they are albinos?

This one is HUGE!

Some little blue lipped mussel shells - you can eat these but there are green lipped mussel farms in the Bay - they're the best ones to eat

Poor old gummy shark - I wonder what happened to him?

Lovely texture in this wee cockle shell

Not so many crab shells today - sometimes there are loads of them!

Oh this is a nice one

This one's been kicking around for a while - I love the worm holes in it

Turret shells - I once made a path of these and collected them by the sackful.  The path glowed in the moonlight!

Oh, that's a pretty one!

Haha!  I tried to photograph a fishing shag...and this is what I got :)

Take a Walk With Me

We leave home, walk down the hill and onto the beach.

We'll walk west with the dawn sun on our backs picking out the detail on the Wakamarama Range.

The tide has tossed lots of debris onto the beach this week.

  About ten minutes along there's evidence of the previous day's fun with a couple of stick huts

At the big lucerne tree we turn off the beach and go across the golf course.

Over the creek and through the arcade heading back east now - we're almost half way.

We're walking back east into the morning sun.

There's a new walkway through the bush and part way through we can look South into the mountains - there's still a little snow on the tops this morning.

Back out beside the golf course and past the house that Orlando Bloom is said to have stayed in with his family during the filming of The Hobbit last month.

And back out onto the manicured walkway in front of the homes along the beach.  The Tarakohe headland and Tata Islands are in the distance.

The sea is in a gentle mood this morning.

Back down towards the motor camp where the bottlebrush is in full bloom - it must almost be Christmas!

And home - that took us an hour. It's the calmest part of my day and I love it!

Tiger Bead Earrings and New Walking Feet

I've been busily uploading lots of new earrings - mostly Tiger Beads - I have been taking the time off between shows to spend quietly on the torch playing with overlaying transparent colour over an opaque "twisted" core.  I find it amazing hos soothing it is to just potter away on the flame and lose myself in the flow of the glass.

I like the way that the opaque blended core accentuates the intensity of the outer glass.  Each colour behaves differently - purple is really great!

I like the way that the opaque blended core accentuates the intensity of the outer glass.  Each colour behaves differently - purple is really great but hard to photograph!

And now from the strange but true files comes the story of my new walking shoes...

I bought some new Vibram Fivefingers from Soul Shoes here in Takaka and they are the most amazing "shoe experience" ever!

The shoes are great - my feet feel so much more alive and active! I can feel  my toes moving as they are meant to, rather than just moving as a "block" inside a hard soled shoe.  They also support my feet and help with my posture and all those attendant aches and pains.

At the end of the week I just throw them in the washing machine with some quality laundry soap on a cold delicate wash then dry them in the sun - they're almost like a thick pair of socks.

I have a rude friend who who said that I looked like a hobbit!

I don't care - I'm comfortable and I don't care how daggy I look on the beach at dawn - I have only a trusted group of women friends who see me!