Boxing Day Drifting

After all the fuss and rush of getting ready for Christmas what with the shopping for and wrapping of presents, baking and cooking all the goodies, putting up and decorating the tree, sending out the cards, making cards to email, it was nice to coast into Boxing Day.  So we slept in, dawdled over brunch, and left. We just decided to drift through the day, without much of a plan. My only stipulation was to get a Decaf Mocha with Whipped cream at some point. Bill said that’s fine by me and off we went.

Well, with these references to coasting and drifting you must have figured out we were heading for our fave beach, Clover Point. And as for drifting, I did have a smidgen or maybe even a kernel of a plan concerning driftwood and brought along my favourite beach combing bag, a bag that has been repurposed from a Basmatti rice bag. Just the right size and quite strong too for holding all my little treasures.

I’ve seen wreaths made from driftwood and it occurred to me that it wouldn’t hurt to look for some good bits while on the beach. If you’ve never seen a driftwood wreath, just buzz Google images and be inspired. And then if you are even more in need of inspiration for what some can do with driftwood, take a look at the driftwood horses by Deborah Butterfield. She couldn’t have picked a better subject than a horse, with all the lovely arcs and lines.

Of course when we got home, we laid our finds out carefully in the green house to dry. And even now, just haphazardly arranged, the wood has a softness and beauty that will only get better as it dries and the colors bleach out.  And while they’re drying I’ll have time  peruse all those lovely wreaths on Google and to figure out just how to go about making the wreath. Of course the tough part will be trying to find some time to actually create it.

The beach at Clover Point is full of small stones and each one is like a little abstract composition in itself. I can never resist taking home a few of natures compositions to admire later.

For years I have collected stones with a single line running through them. Then one day one of my students told me that when a stone has a line in a circle on it, you can make a wish on that stone. So now besides being the most wonderful minimal abstract, a single line wrapped around a stone, it’s also a chance to touch the circle, close my eyes and make a wish. And there are so many things to wish for….

I leave you with the piece of driftwood I always love to see but have to leave behind, it’s just too big for the car……