Seaing Red

Running back with a few pieces of sea glass
New neighbors invited us over and showed us a small collection of their newest hobby; collecting Sea Glass.

Long known as a beachcomber's hobby, collecting Sea Glass was unknown to a Midwest kind of guy like myself. Sea glass is glass from various sources that end up in the ocean and is then tumbled and smoothed by the tides and sand creating small pieces of smooth, frosted glass; this process can take decades if not centuries of time.

Sea glass is one of the rare items of value having it's origin from man made pollution, and while you will not find them at your local jeweler, they are a true prize to beach communities as collecting and deteriorating beaches make the occurrence of sea glass more rare.

Part of the mystique of sea glass is wondering where it originated from and how long it's journey in the ocean may have been. Though the color of the glass gives clues to it's origin; clear, from windows, windshields, or bottles, green from soda bottles, or beer bottles, and brown from old medicine bottles and beer bottles. These are the more common colors.

This is especially true for the rarely found colors of soft blue, and lime green which may be found in only one of twenty to fifty of sea glass. Yet among the most rare of colors found in California is red, found in less than five thousand pieces of sea glass; the truest of rare sea gems on the local beach.

So Mary and I began a casual approach to the new hobby as we strolled along the sand. It took awhile before we found most likely areas for the colored gems. The hobby mostly seemed like a distraction from enjoying the beauty of the ocean, but I searched anyway.

We ended the walk with a small paltry collection, mostly made up of tiny slivers of clear glass, but we placed our new collection in a jar and displayed it with pride. We had a new hobby!

A couple of days later I came home from work and Mary is excited. She walked along the beach during low tide and found several more pieces and met other beachcombers who provided tips.

Mary now had a print out of daily times for low tide. Our new hobby became an obsession.

The following morning we went for our usual walk and of course it ended up turning into another sea glass mission. I was kneeling down over suspect sand when I casually placed a small piece of red sea glass in my pocket. I knew it was rare but had yet learned it's true worth.

Later that day a couple of locals were over and I mentioned I found a red piece.

"You couldn't have found red." they say.

I fetch our small collection and place the tiny red piece into his hand. He holds it into the sun light and they both examine it.

"He found red." says one.

"Fresh off the boat, and he finds red", says the other with a sense of disdain.

"He pays rent for a couple of months and already has red." says the first.

"Do you know how rare red is?" he turns to ask.

"You should have bent over at least 5,000 times before you found this piece."

I smiled with pride as the two began sharing fabled stories of red sea glass. Little did they know then, that a new story was in the making.

Mary and I went out for the day's low tide and began searching with new vigor. We were now on a mission. Not far away were locals who had heard of my new find and kept a wary eye on us.

After bending over a few times for some clear pieces, Mary lets out a start. Another red piece!

One of the locals came over to confirm that it was indeed a red piece.

"Can't believe it!" he says and walks away.

As we walked back to the beach house we were called over to a neighbors party on their deck. They had already heard of the new couple that found red already and asked to see it. Her piece was slightly larger than a nickel, shined bright red when held up to sunlight and was the beginning of a story about the new couple who found red; and Mary's was among the largest found on this beach.

So what kind of worth is a red piece of sea glass?

I priced some on the internet for about $10, but that would be grossly underselling it's true value. Displaying it on a shelf, or better yet; a necklace or other piece of jewelry will earn admiration, respect, and acceptance from the beach population.

Now that's priceless.

Travel Home Rentals

The weather here was unusual today, the wind came from the East and blew hot, dry, desert air across the beach, rather than the Pacific Ocean coolness that blows most often.

Mary and I spent the morning on the beach taking up our new hobby of searching for sea glass, and watching the spray off the waves blow backwards against the blustery arid wind. The sand pelted us, and soon the temperature was in the 90's, so we resorted to the indoors.

The other day we were joined by friends in a visit to Santa Barbara; you can view a few of the pics here Gary & Mary pics. Santa Barbara truly is a beautiful place and is only 45 minutes away.

In Santa Barbara, for only 25 cents you can ride an electric trolley the entire length of State St. which is the retail shopping area, full of small shops, diners and of course coffee shops. State St. also begins at the Wharf where we enjoyed a delicious seafood dinner.

Yes, Mary and I will be returning.

Santa Barbara was one of my options for employment when first considering California but elected for Thousand Oaks instead. After visiting the quaint city I checked out housing resources to get an idea of rental costs.

Of course my favorite web site for checking temporary housing is Craigslist but there are other sources as well. The one problem with Craigslist is that the posts are not monitored, so their reliability has to really be checked out.

I remember wasting time looking at cooperate housing as an option for a temporary home, as well as trying to work out a short term lease with a large apartment complex.

The thing is; I could have just left all of this up to the Nursing Agency to do for me; yet Mary and I wanted that special place, we wanted a home.

The extra effort exceeded our imaginations.

If you are looking for housing near beaches, lakes, resorts or any type of vacation areas your best option may be to check out vacation homes, especially during the off seasons. The Channel Isle area where we currently stay offers some of the best winter-time access to the beaches as well as favorable weather.

Vacation rentals are worth looking into if you plan on staying at a location longer than one week. Here is a couple of excellent sites that provide vacation homes for rent.

www.homeaway.com
www.VRBO.com

New feature! More Pics!

We have taken photos that look great but just don't fit the format on the blog.

So there is now a separate blog dedicated to just photos.

You can take a look by clicking on the link below

http://garysglobalgabpics.blogspot.com/

I will be posting the link on the side bar for easy access in the future.

Chiggers!

I am at work in the cardiac unit the other day when one of the respiratory therapists approach me with a quizzical look on her face. She had been to St.Louis, Missouri recently for a dog show and stayed with distant relatives during the event.

"Gary", she starts, "you didn't tell me there were so many bugs in Missouri." "Do you know anything about bug bites?"

"Oh you betcha", I reply, recalling the number and variety of bites I've endured over the years.

She proceeds to pull down her sock and show me several small round red raised bumps with a scab in the center, then begins scratching them.

"Oh don't scratch" I say "that makes it worse".

"But I was told scratching will kill the bug and make it better." she says.

"No, that only drives the chigger poison deeper. If you scratch they can itch for weeks." I explain.

"CHIGGERS!" she calls out, "That's what I heard them called." "I took my dog for a walk and noticed how beautiful the green grass was and led him out on a lawn when someone called out to me watch out for chiggers."

"What are those?", she wondered.

Thinking that green lawns were as welcoming as in California the R.T. made a critical mistake of walking into a chigger infested lawn and received the misery of several dozen chigger bites.

For those of you not familiar with the Mid-West states phenomenon, a chigger is a small mite-like insect which cannot really be seen by the naked eye living primarily in grass which then hops aboard unsuspecting pedestrians for a juicy meal.

The meal site of the chigger becomes a red raised bite on it's victim and will itch the bedevil out of you. Scratching will make them worse, and ignoring them is near impossible.

The victim must also endure a multitude of home remedies, and ill-fated advice causing more suffering and often times embarrassment as the chigger will often dine on the more tender private parts.

Native Californians gathered to examine the bites on the poor woman's leg and wondered how people could endure life in the great plain states. They asked me how did I manage to stay for so long.

I tried to down play the whole chigger thing, but the small group couldn't imagine the horrors of fighting against bugs too small to be seen. I then explained a whole new meaning to signs that say "KEEP OFF THE GRASS".

Why Travel?

This month marks the one year anniversary of when my nursing director of a small town hospital called a staff meeting. He informed us that the CEO demanded he make budget cuts in our staffing.

As a result, he cut the “weekend option staff”, of which I was one of only two nurses on staff, resulting in a thirty percent cut in pay for myself.

Later that day I remember him asking who would be the first people to leave; “Me” I responded, and within just a few months so followed over ninety percent of the day shift; including the director.

This was the catalyst for the change in my nursing career but it certainly wasn’t the reason. I had already made up my mind to be a travel nurse but intended to wait another year before my departure.

So what are the underlying reasons motivating me to take up the travel life style? I am sure you can find lists pasted all over the internet, but I am going to attempt answering this question of why a person takes up travel by describing who a travel professional might be.

You have an opportunity radar.
My last day at that small hospital that cut the weekend position was the day before the cut in pay was implemented. I refused to accept the gloomy circumstances presented by the nursing director and hospital CEO.

Instead I believed that if opportunity was removed at that small town it must be available somewhere else. I left that hospital to work an agency position in a town no further away from my home that paid considerably more money.

I then accelerated my time frame to begin travel nursing and since then, I understand that the second nearby hospital implemented staffing cuts as well.

A traveler can sense opportunity and is willing to make adjustments to seize them.


You have broken your attachment to the material life
I have heard of nurses lured by the pay of travel nursing to take positions in order to “catch up on bills”, only to discover they remain in the same rut.

Yesterday, Mary and I were shopping at a wholesale club store to stock our pantry when we came across a laptop computer nicer than ours just purchased this spring, and for half the price. We stood there several moments evaluating the benefits of each of us having a computer rather than sharing. Not to mention it was such a good buy!

The laptop remained at the store, because here is the bottom line; what you buy has to be carried with you or left behind. Filling your closets and stuffing every purchase in a hole somewhere isn’t an option.

If you are a person who has detached from that “I gotta have it” mentality then you would make a candidate for the travel life.

Interesting that the “frugal lifestyle” is making headlines these days, but Mary and I don’t really consider ourselves frugal. We still enjoy many of the things as always, though we rarely make out as tourists while traveling, something which is really expensive.


You believe that life is to be lived now.
It will be difficult to make it out your door to the first destination if you don’t have this mentality. Delayed gratification, and plans to travel someday will keep you home, but if you have that sense of urgency travel could be for you.

Many people questioned me regarding retirement plans if I travel, but my reply was that I will stay put and rest in retirement when I am tired of travel.

The need to travel gets in your blood and the desire to see what’s on the other side drives us. We are not looking for greener grass, but rather a new view of the sunrise.

Travel puts you in the “now moment”. It doesn’t matter what my habits were in the Ozarks, they had to change while here in California. Perhaps driving your car might be the best transportation in one city, riding the subway in another.


You are not a control freak.
I am a creature of habit, and living and working out of my routine element has been my largest stressor. People who feel the need to control on the micro level would definitely have problems with travel nursing.

Sure there are things on a larger macro level that can be controlled while traveling, but there are just too many variables on the smaller scale. Simple things that I once took for granted just don’t always apply while traveling.

Many people admire the freedom of the travel lifestyle but with it come the unseen cost of not always being in control. This is not an element that travel agents will tell you about, nor will you see it on travel brochures. There are two sides to the freedom to travel coin and I strongly suggest considering the cost side as well.

These four considerations didn’t really appear on my decision list when I considered travel nursing yet now that I have been out there I strongly suggest putting them on yours.

Here’s to hoping they help.

Molly Leaves

There are weeks that go by and hardly much of anything happens, leaving me at loss for what to write. Ok, some of you may not entirely believe that, but this week just the opposite occurred.

So many things happened since last post I don't hardly know where to begin.

Molly left for Americorp.

When you think of this group, think Peace Corp. but they stay in the continental U.S. and train young people to serve in non-profit agencies on both a local and national level. Molly will remain in the program for 10 months.

"Have you got everything?", I ask.

"Yep. All packed.", Molly says as she zips up the last of her cases.

"Are you sure?" I continue.

"Yes Dad", she sighs in exasperation.

Mary and I drive Molly to LAX early Monday morning, the drive is a little over an hour and Dad has plenty of time to instill a few last pieces of advise while Molly is trapped in the auto and little choice but to listen.

At the airport Mary and I watch outside through a glass panel as my little girl waits in the security line.

I am feeling emotional when Mary calls out; "Oh My Gosh! That's Mister Jay".

"Who?", I ask.

Mary is already texting Molly to turn around and look at the tall handsome man just two bodies behind her.

Molly reads the text on her phone and makes a casual glance behind when suddenly her jaw drops to the floor.

It's Mister Jay!

"Who?", I ask again.

Molly texts Mary back; "My gosh, he is an adonis! He is so beautiful"

"Who is he?", I ask.

Mary texts back; "I didn't realize he was so tall, just think, we all get to see a celeb that we know."

"Yeah", I chime in.

"Who is he again?", I ask a final time.

Molly is next in line to pass through security when Mary and I make a last frantic effort at waving her goodbye. Mr. Jay looks over and realizes that we are waving not at him but Molly. He leans over to her and says; "Looks like you have a fan club.".

"Yeah", she says, "It's small, but devoted".

The next day I receive a call from Molly.

"How are you doing.", I ask; "Is everything going OK?", I continue.

"Oh, I love it here, but Dad, I forgot one thing." she says.

"What's that?" I ask.

"I lost my cash. Can you send me some?" she says.

I realize then that my job for the past thirty years of raising children may be finished, but being a parent is never over.

Saying, Hello

Homes and boats in the harbor located
behind our home.


The local favorite Diner.


Miles of beach with hardly a soul seen.


View of beach from our house.

Mary and I now live in a vacation home on Hollywood Beach which is part of several beaches that run along the Channel Isles. The beach is lined with multi-million dollar homes and every square foot is optimized to catch a view of the Pacific Ocean. Behind us is the harbor and marina filled with large sailboats many docked in front of more beautiful homes.

At night we leave the windows open to let the cool air in and the sounds of the ocean waves pound the beach, but in the early morning when I rise the sound is more gentle, like a constant rumble nearby.

I walked Princess on her leash the other night and heard a barking noise. "What kind of bird makes that sound?" I wondered. Then I remembered sea lions rest on the large rocks along the entry to the harbor. The next morning Mary and I walked along the beach to these rocks and sure enough, there were several sea lions perched among them.

The ocean water is much cooler now. I stepped into the waves and at first got acclimated but only to feel an icy chill a few moments later. I don't think we'll be getting in the water much at all.

The beach here is missing the beautiful and muscled people that populate Santa Monica's shores, nor is there a concrete bike path running along side.
The beach here along the Channel Isles is more natural. You can find pieces of drift wood washed ashore, a few rocks pop up from the sand.

At night a mist as thick as a cloud rolls in from the ocean, it leaves the car soaked with a dew like covering in the morning. The night air has a strong salty aroma to it, and I found it difficult to sleep my first night. During the day the sun breaks through and it can get pleasantly warm though Mary spends most of the day in long sleeves now.

It is quiet here, the sound of the ocean is constant but it seems to suck-up and absorb whatever noise is made from the shore. This area is a quiet sleepy neighborhood though, and doesn't produce a lot of noise anyway. They seem to pride themselves in belonging to a beach forgotten by the manic crowds, and prefers enjoying it all to themselves.

Dave is the retired owner who lives in a loft upstairs, he has built much of the house himself in an eccentric kind of way. The brick and rock wall surrounding the courtyard is an oddity that causes tourists and locals alike to stop and look. The inside of the home is built to make you feel like you are in a boat. Everything is meticulous.

We walked for breakfast to a diner just two blocks away; crabcakes and eggs are a local favorite at Mrs. Olsen's Coffee Hut, the portions were large and the coffee was great. Inside were construction workers and locals, we got there late in the morning, otherwise there is a waiting line to get inside for breakfast.

Dave and another retired gentleman are sitting in the courtyard enjoying the sunshine when we return home. "You will be glad to know that you are living on the most friendly block in the neighborhood." Dave boasts, and proceeded to name off several of the neighbors.

"I want to encourage you to have people over and enjoy this place, and don't forget to light the gas fire pit when you spend time out here in the courtyard." Dave instructed.

"Oh, don't worry," I respond, "we will."