Many years ago, the love of my life moved our family to the beach, and for almost 50 years now I have taken time out for walks on the beach every chance I get. In the beginning, like most, I walked swiftly for the exercise away from the demands of my ‘real life’ as wife, mother, housewife, part-time teacher and writer/editor.

One day, a few years ago, walking briskly with arms swinging rhythmically, I briefly glanced down. Something gleaming brightly on the sand caught my eye. Stopping abruptly, I reached down and picked up a smooth, well-worn, very tiny piece of green sea glass.

The phrase, ‘take time to smell the roses’ flashed through my mind, and since that day I have taken time to look for sea glass whenever I walk the sands.

On each of these walks I have never come home empty-handed, always finding at least one piece of green sea glass. My collection includes hundreds of pieces; most are green, a few white, or turquoise, with the rarest finds being rust and dark blue. Red, the rarest find, still eludes me.

I have often been asked how I find these rare and distinctive treasures and I recently had a revelation regarding my discoveries.

For the last several Mondays I have been participating in a walk for peace in our troubled world with my women’s soul group. We start with a prayer for peace, take a 45-minute solo meditative walk, then meet back to share our thoughts.

As usual, on this day I began my walk, scanning the beach near the shoreline edge. Glass can be found more easily on the crest of the sands where the waves ebb and flow. Nearing the end of the allotted time I found myself empty-handed. That has never happened since that fated day.

But, on that day, as I tread the last few steps toward the meeting spot, my steps revealed a piece of well-worn sea glass nestled in the sand well away from the water.

On that day, I did not find the sea glass, the sea glass found me!