The Earth is our
First Teacher
Through her ancient
wisdom we learn patience, connectedness and gratitude.
Through her infinite nurturing
beauty, we experience an intrinsic bond with her life-giving power and
vast well of replenishment. We learn
throughout the transforming changes of her seasons and the ebbs and flows of
her spiraling cycles. We learn throughout the awakening of each new day
and the velvet darkness of each evening. (Sophia Roselyn Breillat)
Glass Beach ~ Recycled
by the Ocean
In the early 1900's, Fort Bragg,
California, residents threw their household garbage over the cliffs above what
is now Glass Beach. It is hard to imagine this happening today, but
back then, people dumped all kinds of refuse straight into the
ocean...including old cars and their household garbage which of course included
lots of glass.
Beginning in 1949, the area
around Fort Bragg became a public dump and locals referred to it as 'The
Dumps'. Sometimes, fires were lit to
reduce the size of the trash pile (up to 30 feet high). However, in 1967, the city leaders closed the
area. Various cleanup programs were undertaken through the years to try to
correct the damage, without success.
Over the next 30 years the
pounding waves cleaned the beach by
breaking down everything but glass and pottery.
The pounding waves washed the trash up and down, back and forth. Tons of polished, broken glass were created
by the pounding surf. These smoothened, coloured glass particles then settled
along the sea shore in millions ~ and so
a magnificent beach was formed. The name was changed from 'The Dumps' to what we
currently know as...The Glass Beach.
The sea glass that was created is
the product of a very long and interesting process, taking anywhere from 10 to
30 years to make sea glass, the name for any piece of glass that finds its way
to the ocean and tumbles around in the water long enough to frost and smooth
its surface. Once it makes its way into
the ocean, the glass is broken up into shards and is tumbled around in the
water where sand and other rocks act
like sandpaper to smooth out its rough edges.
Sometimes as the sea glass is passed through fire, it becomes fire
glass, the rarest of sea glass with certain inclusions just like precious gems.
In 1998, the private owner of the
property determined that Glass Beach should belong to the public and in
2002 it became part of MacKerricher State Park, open to the public. Within a
period of a few years, the Glass Beach won fame, attracting a large
number of tourists every year. Way back
in time, people wanted to dump their glass products on this shore; now they
would try to get one of these pieces to take home as a souvenir. It is ironic but true that where once it was
illegal to dispose the glass on the shore, it now is a crime to remove it. Visiting Glass Beach today is a unique
experience. What makes it even more
remarkable, are the sounds produced by the glass pebbles as they are being
washed away by the gentle waves.
A Brief Fact
Summary
For years, the water beat against
the different kinds of trash being dumped.
Glass, household appliances and
even motor parts were discarded on the beach.
The waves and weather conditions
wore down the overwhelming amount of
garbage in the water, creating millions of beautiful smooth rocks.
It was a disgusting dump due to
carelessness, but nature corrected what humans ruined.
The beach's moniker was soon
changed from 'The Dump'...to The Glass Beach, a more attractive name for
the now-beautiful beach.
The Glass Beach and the
surrounding twenty acres were purchased by the California State Park system and
were incorporated into MacKerricher State Park.
The miraculous beach was finally
under the protection of the state.
It's hard to believe the
short-sighted mistakes we were making that could have potentially ruined this beautiful spot. But,
thanks to natural processes, the ocean transformed the trash into the sea
glass.
Each coloured gem on the beach
has its own story.
The ruby red glass stones are
typically from old car tail-lights.
Then, the sapphire rocks are the
remnants of broken apothecary bottles.
The beach at Fort Bragg isn't the
only glass beach in the world, as strange and beautiful as it is. There are
other places in the world where Mother Nature put a stop to our foolishness.
If you want to see the sea glass
for yourself, you can drive to Fort Bragg and be in awe of the power of nature.
Even if we didn't mean to pollute The Glass Beach how we did, it's
inspiring to see just how hard Earth can correct our mistakes!
Compliments I extend
to Tom for this lesson from Mother Nature.
Our planet is full
of amazing sights ~
if only we take
the time to look!
(Author Unknown)
Of Interest:
Fort Bragg is located along the Coastal Highway #1 north of San
Francisco...half way to Eureka...and only a few miles north of Medocino, also along the coast.
Merle
Baird-Kerr...written September 23, 2014
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