Most folks play “rock, paper, scissors”  well we play  Rocks, Driftwood, Beach in our world. My three sisters and I have an undeniable attraction to rocks, chunks of driftwood, pieces of bark, moss, trees etc.  We are particularly fond of beaches near and around Haines, Alaska, however, pretty much any beach will do.

Walking along a beach, possibly barefoot with our pants legs rolled up a bit, splashing in the waves, looking for shells and rocks or just watching the waves roll in is a treat for us. As children growing up on a homestead in SE Alaska we used to sometimes find Japanese glass floats – those were special treasures.

Driftwood evokes memories of our childhood and also sparks creative ideas for things to craft! Chunks of smoothed-by-the-water driftwood can be theraputic just to stroke and admire. I have to admit to having shipped home (with our household goods) several pieces of driftwood from Kodiak island some years ago. They were just so cool and my husband said well put them in the boxes and ship them – so I did!  Big chunks of driftwood make us drool (ok salivate may be the nicer term) as they might look very cool in our yards but normally must just stay where they are. Pieces of curled up birch bark are special finds along with chunks of wood with moss growing on them.

We will hunt for, and find, rocks just about anywhere. We are not sure what draws us to  a particular rock but they just call to us so we must take them home.  Eldest sister, Denise, has a rock tumble and has an eye for ones that will tumble nicely.  Some rocks just beg to be taken home and placed lovingly in a flower bed or on a table, shelf, or mantel.  My husband and I  brought home a fair sized rock from Canada during our drive through coming home from Kodiak, AK to Mtn Home, ID in 2011.  Lynn, my husband, said we had to have an A rock to commemorate our passage through the country. This rock has a spot in our front flower garden.  All of us have seen great huge interesting rocks we would love to have in our yards as a focal point but, sigh, they are usually way too big to move let alone get into a pickup bed.

We don’t settle disputes/arguments with rock-driftwood-beach but they are all important in our lives.  We are all blessed that our husbands let us be us and bring home crazy things with all these pieces of inspiration!

So I guess the only thing left to say is   Stay Calm and Rock, Driftwood, Beach On!!