Usually when walking along a beach I am visually attracted to interesting stones, shells and pieces of driftwood. On this early afternoon, as I walk along Hope Bay with my dog, the idea occurs to me to look for twenty-six objects along the shoreline, each beginning with one letter of the alphabet.
I am particularly curious as to whether I will find objects here beginning with letters like Q, V, X, Y and Z. The phrase "Seek and you will find" jumps to mind as my eyes open up to see beyond the obvious.
Almonds–A common find on most beaches.
Bench–Under a tree there is a wooden bench that was built by the man who used to sell watermelons and other fruit and vegetables there. He once told me that he had made the bench for his customers to relax and "take in" the ocean view.
Coconuts–Many fallen ones–some unopened, some opened, their water consumed.
Driftwood –A variety of interesting shapes in twig, branch, log and tree trunk sizes decorate the shoreline.
Estuary–A clear-flowing rivulet meets the sea.
Footprints–My bare footprints, my dog's paw prints and the fresh shoeprints of an unknown person who must have recently walked along this portion of the beach.
Glass–Many pieces, in opaque, green, brown and blue colours, smoothed over time by the sea.
Holes–Lots of crab holes, as well as bigger holes dug by my dog.
Iguana–A large dead one (or what I assume was one), half buried in the sand
Jellyfish–One purpley-bluey-pinkish Portuguese Man-of-war
KFC– A discarded box rests on a pile of dry coconut branches.
Leaves–Many sea grape leaves, scattered like big confetti pieces in the sand
Magnum Tonic Wine–Name on label of a small, dark bottle, partially hidden under a large piece of driftwood.
Nets–Pieces of green fishing net.
Oil bottles–Many plastic bottles that once contained car oil.
Pebbles–Mainly black, grey or white–most of them smooth, some rough.
Quickset Steel Epoxy–This empty, squeezed-flat tube was partially covered by sand, its green colouring faded from sunlight. Were it not for man's garbage I may not have found an object beginning with Q.
Reel–Black plastic fishing reel partly visible under leaves.
Sand dollars–I have never seen any before on Hope Bay, so these are a welcome surprise.
Table–A small table with a wrought iron fringe, discarded under a tree.
Undulations –Most of the sand isn't flat and even. From the point of view of a small insect, it would look like a vast, undulating desert of dunes.
Vines–Natural ones (vegetation) and man made ones (tangled lengths of nylon cord).
Waves–An obvious sight.
"X-oskeleton" –ie: Exoskeletons of crabs that have died and their insides have dried out.
Yams–From the sand, these ground provisions are visible in the fruit and provisions stall toward the end of the beach.
Z–By the time I am walking back to the car, this is the only letter for which I haven't yet found an object. I consider possibilities–a zip on a pair of shorts or pants left on the sand ... a zaboca, either being sold by the fruit and provisions vendor or washed up to shore.
I used to think that apples and other edibles seen along the shoreline were spiritual offerings, but someone once said that food items sometimes drop from boats and are washed to land.