Beachcomber’s Paradise

After leaving Washington, we headed for the Coastal Bend of Texas for the rest of the winter. I had been to Corpus Christi a couple times on business and the area looked interesting. The northern Gulf of Mexico is well-known for recreational fishing and the coastal marshes and woodlands are birding meccas. We were ready to leave the cold and wet Pacific Northwest. We rented a house in Rockport, about a half-hour east of Corpus (as the locals refer to it), and became honorary “winter Texans” (the Texas equivalent of "snowbirds" of the Southwest). Here’s the first of a couple posts on the interesting things we learned in this corner of the Lone Star State.

Small (coppice) dune on the beach at Padre Island National Seashore

Beachcombing

Wikipedia defines beachcombing as “...an activity that consists of an individual ‘combing’ (or searching) the beach and the intertidal zone, looking for things of value, interest or utility.” Rande and I have combed the intertidal from the black beaches of Costa Rica to the green beaches of Hawaii looking for "things of interest." Now, with more free time and many miles of beaches nearby, we're working on proficiency. Our favorite beach is an uninhabited stretch of white sand south of Punta Arena on the Sea of Cortez. It’s great for seashells and glass.

Rande beachcombing near Punta Arena

Rande collects sea glass, but she’s also attracted to shells, rocks, wood and bones. Beachcombing to her is walking meditation; listening to the waves and the sound of her footsteps in the sand is a way to focus on the present (known as mindfulness). She may be onto something. Dr. Deacon Ritterbush (aka Dr. Beachcomb) describes beachcombing as “…an inexpensive way to achieve better mental, emotional and physical health; and a spiritual means to weather life’s challenges.”