The last time I was on an international auction site (you know the one I mean). I happened to type in 'driftwood' and was amazed that people actually buy and sell driftwood online.
Income from my writing is at a current all time low, so I decided to check out finding and collecting driftwood to earn a few cents as a beachcomber.
How wonderful, I thought, to wander across sun scorched beaches in search of intriguingly wave shaped pieces of wood and actually being paid to do it. Compared with the hours I spend looking at a blank screen, it seemed like a great life.
The beach I chose was the beautiful Porlock Shingle Ridge Beach in the West of England, West Country County of Somerset.
Since the area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), I was afraid there may be rules against collecting even a few pieces of driftwood so decided to do a trial run, without actually lugging any driftwood away.
Wow! Driftwood is so much fun. Everywhere there were wonderfully shaped pieces of wood ideal for craft projects or just as subjects for photography.
Is it a
fish? Is it a bird? No it's driftwood!
Can you see the big mouth and staring eyes (Mmm reminds me of someone!)
Another driftwood fish on the beach.
This huge pebble encrusted tree trunk lay on the beach in great splendour.
As I left for home, empty handed except for my photos, I looked across the beautiful saltmarsh hinterland that lies behind Porlock Shingle Ridge and listened to what seemed like a hundred birds hidden in the long grass and in full song.
It was so tranquil. In that moment, I felt part of that splendid remote countryside and thoughts of earning money from selling driftwood were far away.
Bye for now
Rob
(
free online author and beach bum for a day ... or maybe soon to be
driftwood addict)
