Hi,
We hope this letter finds you in a mellow mood. If not, at least it'll distract you for a few minutes :-)
Here's what you'll find in this March 2014 edition of the Odyssey Sea Glass Newsletter:
The Pros and Cons of Searching for Sea Glass Introduction Humans have walked the beaches searching for “treasures” for eons. First called "beach combing" after references to
beach combers in novels of the South Seas in the mid-1800s, scavenging the beaches involved, for many, a way to make a living – either by selling what was found or eating it if it was edible. With the changing times, people in general began to have more free time. Families and individuals began going to the beach for recreation, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Beach items like seashells, attractive rocks, and interesting driftwood became "treasures" to these modern-day recreational beachcombers.  Because of its colors, sea glass was soon noted amongst the pebbles. On various beaches, certain recreational beachcombers began to collect these glass gems. Not many of those original sea glassers knew exactly what it was they were collecting and likely never called it "sea glass" or "beach glass." However, for at least 50 years folks have appreciated the same qualities of beach glass that we do – the frosted and tumbled, multiple-faceted and colored surfaces that produce such an attractive shape and glow to each piece of glass. 
With time, some of us became fanatics. We couldn't stop thinking about the beach. Tides became an important daily item in our lives. The weather could make or break our weekend. Time, distance, tides, and weather calculations
invaded our thoughts.  "Sea-glassing" - The Pros and Cons I suppose there does exist the possibility that someone could become
insane. Insanely fanatical, that is, about sea glass to the point where the obsession controlled their life, interfered with work, caused problems in the family, and generally distorted his or her perception of life. That applies to any pastime or hobby – for example TV football or window shopping – and sea glassing would be no exception. But for most sea glass addicts, combing the nearby beaches enhanced our lives, getting us outdoors (even in harsh weather) to walk, walk, walk.  Pros - Benefits of Searching for Sea Glass • Exercise and health - First of all, there are the benefits associated with walking as exercise. We've heard of the need to walk no matter what our age and the fact that walking or other moderate exercise has a positive effect on our mental attitude as well as our physical health. It's good stress therapy too. • Clean air - Ionized air is produce by large bodies of water in motion, such as ocean waves. Studies show that the negative electric charge of ions makes a person feel better. • Environment - Clean ocean air as opposed to exercising in town or indoors. • Family - Recreation that the whole family can enjoy. • Inexpensive - An inexpensive way of spending enjoyable hours or whole days enjoying the outdoors. • Appreciation for nature - Building an appreciation for God's gifts - birds, marine life, seaweed, rocks, driftwood, sunrises and sunsets, and
the beautiful scenery all around us. • Photography skills (perhaps you didn't think of this?) - Yes, for a lot of us, part of the fun started to involve taking photos of our finds, either on the beach or later at home. With practice, we began to learn really how to take better and better photos. • And much more - See your suggestions here.  Cons – Reasons Not to Search for Sea Glass • None (?!) See others' suggestions here, including some really funny cons that had us almost in tears. I'm sure that some of you could come up with some good reasons for not searching for sea glass, so we've left those rare opinions up to you. Our conclusion: After years of having a "balanced view" of sea glass collecting, there's so many healthy reasons for beachcombing and sea-glassing that, well, everyone should do it.
But aren't we glad they don't ? Happy hunting, ~ David and Lin
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 Thanks!
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